This is the #NeverForget Diary, a weekly summary of what’s happening in the Philippines under Marcos II. In a time of mangled histories and fragile memories, it’s crucial never to forget. (Note: this post may be clipped in your email inbox. Photo above from VP Sara Duterte/Twitter.)
This week Vice President Sara Duterte drew flak for sharing that she’s using a presidential helicopter to go home to Davao on a regular basis.
She posted on social media that President Marcos Jr. has lent her a helicopter so that “wherever [she] may be found in the country during the day, [she is] home to tuck [her] children to bed.”
Duterte also thanked Marcos Jr. for “putting a premium on the desire of a working mother to be present in her children’s lives.”
Many people thought this exceedingly insensitive, especially for the commuting public (whose traffic woes have appreciably worsened compared to pre-pandemic times) and Filipino taxpayers at large (who are financing Duterte’s expensive helicopter trips—how expensive is aviation fuel these days?).
While Duterte gets free helicopter rides, the Department of Transportation faces zero budget next year for its Libreng Sakay (or Free Rides) program, as well as service contracting.
After Duterte drew much flak, she said reports about her helicopter trips were “fake news.” But in fact it was she herself who posted the photo.
Still on VP Sara, she’s asking for a half a billion pesos in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President (OVP). Lawmakers in the House of Representatives approved the OVP’s proposed budget in a mere 13 minutes “as courtesy” to VP Sara.
Hence the meme:
House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro pushed back against this convention:
Many people couldn’t help but think that such huge sum could go instead to the DepEd’s budget for special children (which apparently will get zero budget next year)…
…or a cancer assistance fund in the Department of Health’s budget (costing also half a billion pesos).
Meanwhile, wearing her cap as concurrent Education Secretary, Duterte defended the extra P100 billion budget she’s asking for the DepEd by promising she’ll fix education in 6 years with that money. This brings to mind her father’s broken promise of eradicating drugs in “3 to 6 months.”
Then when asked about the necessity for imposing mandatory ROTC, Duterte had a hard time articulating her views.
Meanwhile, kids like this one face more pressing concerns.
Speaking of VP Sara, there was a new report by the Commission on Audit that flagged Davao City’s “bad recordkeeping” during Sara Duterte’s term as mayor.
IMAGE-BUILDING IS THE PRIORITY
In a tree-planting event held on his birthday, September 13, the president said greening and tree-planting are the most important issues faced by the Philippines and the world today:
On his birthday night, the president was seen singing John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
His penchant for partying was again seen as insensitive by some:
Days before, President Marcos Jr. sat down with supporter and celebrity Toni Gonzaga for a one-to-one interview in the Palace. Amid high inflation and agricultural shortages (among other economic woes), this self-serving exercise in image-building didn’t sit well with some people.
Despite the president’s PR, the Philippines remains one of the least attractive countries among foreign investors:
Even mining investors aren’t impressed:
In the interview, Marcos Jr. admitted that his campaign promise of lowering the price of rice by P20 to P30 is “not really realistic” but still possible—in maybe 3 years. He had a hard time articulating how exactly he plans to achieve that.
The president also plans to revive (bring “back to back”?) the old but inefficient ways of the National Food Authority, and reverse the gains from the Duterte-era Rice Tariffication Law. This won’t sit well with many economists.
Marcos Jr. also plans to help government workers by transforming part of their salaries into rice rations. But is this wise?
I wrote about the president’s unrealistic rice promises in my Rappler column this week:
On September 15, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos oversaw the groundbreaking of a “new catering area” in Palace grounds. For more parties, perhaps? At any rate, netizens have noted that this is happening amid high inflation, widespread hunger and poverty, etc.
Speaking of the economy, the peso continued to weaken against the US dollar this weak, reaching P57.43 to a dollar. This streak could continue well into 2023, said some analysts.
Finance Secretary Ben Diokno claimed a weaker peso is good for the budget, by way of greater collection of taxes from imports, which are made more expensive by the weaker peso.
Inflation is becoming entrenched in the Philippines. Starbucks has raised its prices…
…and the government has approved higher jeepney fares.
People on social media have coped (or attempted to cope) using memes:
A plethora of international indicators suggest that global inflation is here to stay…
…and might even spur a global recession if central banks worldwide continue to raise their interest rates.
In the US, their latest inflation report has sent jitters as well.
Likely, the US Federal Reserve will continue raising its interest rate to combat inflation.
But this might lead to a US recession. There are red flags already.
WHERE’S THE UNITY?
Less than 3 months since the president took office, Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez—who became the face of Marcos Jr.’s campaign—has resigned as executive secretary (but will remain as Marcos’s chief of staff).
Before this, he drafted a special presidential order that’s so self-serving even Juan Ponce-Enrile found it alarming. As reported by Rappler, “The past weeks, word has been going around that Marcos was looking to replace Rodriguez as ES. Several names have been floated, the latest being a former Supreme Court justice.”
Rodriguez f*cked up since he “appeared to have failed to inform the President fully, and in a timely manner, about the soundness and urgency of importing 300,000 metric tons of sugar amid an impending shortage.”
Speaking of that, the 2 minority senators pushed back against their colleagues’ report about the sugar importation fiasco, and said the treatment of agriculture officials implicated in the matter was “undeserved, uncalled for, and unjustified.” They put the spotlight instead on Rodriguez:
Rodriguez’s exit might be vindication for the agriculture officials who were used as scapegoats in the whole debacle.
MASKS OPTIONAL OUTSIDE
President Marcos Jr. issued an executive order making mask wearing now optional outdoors.
But health experts raised red flags since masks actually do a lot of good to prevent transmission, and booster shots are not yet that prevalent. Dr. Tony Leachon shared this graph from Our World in Data:
In fact, the government is miserably failing to meet its 50% booster vaccination target, prompting it to reduce such target (rather conveniently) to 30%:
Another problem is that millions of COVID-19 vaccines have expired.
It’s mid-September, and yet there’s still no health secretary. When asked about this by celebrity Toni Gonzaga in a sit-down interview, Marcos Jr. feebly justified the delay by saying “DOH is not about COVID alone…it’s about public health in general.” What?
Meanwhile, WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said the end of the pandemic is “in sight.” Some experts disagree.
#NEVERFORGET
In his interview with Toni Gonzaga, the president said bluntly his father was not a dictator. Marcos Sr. was.
Marcos Jr. also claimed that martial law was declared “because of the wars, the two wars we were fighting on two fronts…” Nope. Instead, ML was declared so that Marcos Sr. could stay in power well beyond what was allowed in the constitution.
Toni Gonzaga also asked the president about the Marcoses’ unpaid P203 billion estate tax liabilities. Marcos Jr. dared people to reopen the case since allegedly “[they] had no chance to answer” and “were never allowed to argue” their case.
This is an outright lie.
ABS-CBN’s Mike Navallo has an excellent thread on the matter:
Former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio also chimed in:
This pending issue is crucial as it will constantly undermine the government’s efforts to pursue fiscal consolidation by raising taxes. People won’t want to pay up unless they see the president paying his own taxes.
In other news, there’s another proposal in Congress to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG):
Some lawmakers questioned the effectivity of PCGG in recovering the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth—its primary directive. Here’s what former PCGG Ruben Carranza said about this:
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission (HRVVMC)—which was aiming to build a martial law museum this year—will suffer a huge budget cut next year, owing in large part to the zero budget for capital outlays it got in the National Expenditure Program:
The Department of Budget and Management said the HRVVMC’s museum didn’t have a proposed allocation in the previous budgets—a blatant lie.
In other news, cancel culture has hit Delimondo corned beef, produced by a company owned by Katrina Ponce-Enrile, the daughter of Marcos loyalist Juan Ponce Enrile.
A week before the 50th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by Marcos Sr., a slew of activities and statements:
Speaking of the Marcoses, Senator Imee said “I lied, I lied”—reminiscent of the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Here’s the context: Three years ago, Imee promised that the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections would be the last. But now she’s endorsing a bill that postpones such elections yet again.
MISCELLANY
A much needed rest for Fernando Zobel de Ayala, CEO of Ayala Corporation:
A sudden electricity shortage hit Luzon this week.
Hence this meme:
A portent of things to come once Malampaya runs out of its natural gas reserves by 2025.
Finance Secretary Ben Diokno would rather POGOs leave the country. But that will result in economic losses invariably, since many businesses cater to POGOs, and POGOs have employed many Filipinos, too.
Senator Robin Padilla justified the presence of POGOs and their economic contributions:
Meanwhile, the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee invited as resource person someone who’s apparently already dead.
A lawmaker (who has a PhD from NCPAG in UP Diliman) feigns not knowing the term “red-tagging” exists.
Tension rises between the US and China, with Taiwan stuck in the middle.
Stupid policies to get rid of pests. In Marikina City, Mayor Teodoro offers P200 to anyone who catches rats no lighter than 150 grams—supposedly in a bid to fight leptospirosis.
And in Tanza, Cavite, a kilo of rice awaits anyone who will catch a plate full of mosquitoes.
Leaders in these LGUs need a lesson in basic economics, specifically the “cobra effect.”
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources invites everyone to a “coastal clean-up” at the dolomite beach ravaged by trash in the wake of heavy rains. It added, “Bring your own cleaning paraphernalia.”
Here’s what the “international clean-up” looked like:
GRAPHS OF NOTE
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on the state of the country’s balance of payments:
Economic aid during the pandemic helped to bring down the US child poverty rate to a record low:
According to this graph, an extra year of study in the Philippines results in a 8.3% higher income (on average). That’s middling vis-à-vis the educational returns in other countries.
The state of food insecurity worldwide:
Human development has regressed in many countries:
A quick note on the relationship between oil price hikes and wage hikes:
Economic growth is not inconsistent with combatting climate change:
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommended podcast: “Benteng kilo ng bigas, kering-keri o guni-guni?” by Usapang Econ, in partnership with Pumapodcast. Listen on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts!
Recommended podcast: “Ang hirap ng economics"? Hindi ’no!” featuring moi, produced by the Foundation for Economic Freedom.
Recommended video: “Marcos Years: Golden Age?” by ALAB Alternatibong Balita. I got to talk to veteran journalist Inday Espina-Varona and Atty. Chel Diokno about the dark legacies of Martial Law.
Recommended documentary: “9/11 PH Connection” by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.
Recommended thread: The fascinating world of QR codes.
Recommended episode: Episode 6 of Drag Race Philippines. At the start of the episode, RuPaul repeated the iconic line of Cherie Gil who recently passed away.
The episode featured what is likely the longest Snatch Game in Drag Race herstory.
Marina Summers impersonated ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo…
…and even released additional material after the episode aired.
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