Nexus of words and action in a Marcos Presidency

As Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte start their six-year terms as the country’s highest officials, citizens will be watching if their policies and actions hew to their non-controversial, unity campaign theme.

So far, Marcos, the country’s 17th president, has appointed experienced technocrats to his economic team. That has given some relief to local and foreign investors and multilateral organizations after his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s mercurial leadership, which included ham-fisted use of regulatory agencies to go after enemies.

Early in his term, Duterte went after Roberto Ongpin, then chairperson of online gaming firm PhilWeb, forcing the businessman to step down and sell his entire 53.76% stake in the gaming firm to Gregorio “Greggy” Araneta III, the brother-in-law of the new President.

Duterte’s term ended with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reaffirming its decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler.

In between, Duterte’s weaponized law and its instrumentalities against giant broadcast network ABS-CBN’s franchise and Rappler in what veteran journalist Sheila Coronel described as pincer-like assaults on the press.

Duterte also employed the same strategy against political enemies, including jailed senator Leila de Lima and former (ousted?) Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, with the judicial branch – which had also faced his threats – throwing its weight behind him. 

Tough guys

Hi, I’m Inday Espina-Varona, head of regions of Rappler. I was a very young reporter in the last years of the Marcos dictatorship and can’t help but wonder about the future with his son at the helm of our country.

During his campaign, the son and namesake of the late dictator hinted that his Cabinet would include experts who had worked with what is now the political opposition. 

He has made good that pledge, but his choices for positions holding power over government officials include new Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, among Duterte’s legislative allies who pushed to kill the franchise of broadcast giant ABS-CBN. 

He has likewise attacked the media in general. At one point during the 2022 elections season, Remulla accused big corporations of dictating the news agenda of media companies.

Remulla, also known for red-tagging – the practice of linking legal personalities and groups to terrorist-designated organizations like the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front – will sit as a member of the anti-terror council, whose powers to designate people as terrorists and authorize their prolonged detentions had been upheld by the Supreme Court.

So far, the Marcos appointees have rolled out reassuring remarks on how they will handle dissent. 

Political scientist Clarita Carlos, the new National Security Adviser (NSA), is the first woman to hold the post traditionally given to retired military officers. 

Carlos, who will sit as vice chair of the Anti-Terrorism Council, has said she would try to stop red-tagging, calling it an unproductive strategy. Urging the government to pour its resources into addressing socio-economic inequalities and the lack of opportunities, Carlos said, “Kapag pinatay mo ang kanyang kinabukasan, hahawak yan ng baril. Is that too difficult to understand?”

Her commitment will immediately be put to the test. 

Two weeks before Marcos’ inaugural, the National Telecommunications Commission, on orders of Carlos’ predecessor, Hermogenes Esperon Jr., ordered the blocking of more than 28 websites, including that of news organizations Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, and several legal activist groups. 

With no basis, Esperon’s request claimed the organizations owning these websites are “affiliated to and are supporting” terrorists and terrorist organizations.

Among the most worrisome of Marcos’ appointees is former solicitor general Jose Calida, who will head the Commission on Audit.

COA, a constitutional commission,has been instrumental in exposing corruption across different administrations, including the military “pabaon” scandal during Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the pork barrel scam that the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III pursued.

Calida is a loyalist of the new President’s father and one of Duterte’s most effective attack dogs. 

He was instrumental in the ouster of Sereno, the jailing of Senator Leila de Lima, the shut down of ABS-CBN and Rappler, and the cyber-libel cases against Rappler’s chief executive officer Maria Ressa. 

But his appointment also calls into question Marcos’ commitment to the fight against corruption, given that the new President has also said he would prefer to let sleeping dogs lie – “kalimutan na natin ang nakaraan” (let’s forget the past).

Among the major corruption cases at stake are pandemic procurement anomalies of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, which bagged P11 billion worth of pandemic contracts. 

Calida’s track record of loyalty to corrupt  administrations raises doubts about the resolution of corruption cases linked to the Duterte administration, especially in cases where his former office may have given a legal opinion. 

He will probably take to heart the former chief executive’s tirade against the COA in the aftermath of the Pharmally anomaly disclosures, something that slides over into the people’s constitutional right to know about government performance. 

“You make a report. Do not flag and do not publish it because it will condemn the agency or the person that you are flagging,” Duterte told the independent audit body, going against its traditional practice.

Actions speak loud

Outside of appointees, Marcos and his vice president, the former mayor of Davao City, have close links to one of the country’s more controversial personalities.

The self-proclaimed “son of God” televangelist Apollo Quiboloy endorsed their candidacies.

The head of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is in the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most-wanted list for labor trafficking schemes and forcing young followers to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have also filed a string of cases against Quiboloy and close associates, including conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of children, marriage fraud, fraud and misuse of visas, bulk cash smuggling, promotional money laundering, concealment money laundering, and international promotional money laundering.

Rappler’s regional team published a series based on allegations by survivors of his “Kingdom”. They shared harrowing accounts of how, as teenagers, they experienced physical abuse and were forced to raise funds and go into debt for the Quiboloy’s needs. 

Quiboloy’s followers filed more than a dozen cyber-libel cases against Rappler journalists, and four people they interviewed for the investigative series, and against Rappler itself. Prosecutors in four towns and cities have dismissed all 16 complaints and 50 counts of cyber libel.

As Sara Duterte took her oath as vice president on June 19 in her home city, Davao, I was stunned at Quiboloy’s place of honor. 

Sara spoke of protecting women and children from social ills, including harassment and sexual abuse. 

It was hard not to empathize with this strong woman. Her city has some of the most progressive measures protecting these vulnerable sectors and I remembered how, following her admission that she, too, had experienced sexual molestation, her father, the President, sneered and called her a “drama queen”. 

And yet there was Quiboloy, seated in between the President and Supreme Court Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, who administered her oath. Marcos was also present during the event.

What does this say about the nexus of words and action in the incoming administration? 

Every new government is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. But journalists and citizens will be watching closely. The last thing this country needs is a repeat of the Duterte playbook – going after enemies and giving cronies, kin, and friends a free pass.