[WATCH] In The Public Square with John Nery: Marcos Jr’s first year – are there limits to his power?

One year in, and there is no disputing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s hold on power. His signature policy measure, the Maharlika Investment Fund, has passed overwhelmingly in the Senate. His appointment of Gilbert Teodoro as defense secretary for a second time signals a consolidation in his efforts to reform the pension system for military and uniformed personnel. And his cousin and constant traveling companion Speaker Martin Romualdez has nipped a potential leadership challenge in the proverbial bud.

Is there anything, practically speaking, that stands in the President’s way?

As we mark the first year in office of the second Marcos in history, we note that so much has changed in the last 10 or 11 months. After the initial missteps in the office of the Executive Secretary, the Marcos presidency seems to have recovered its footing. After President Duterte’s risky and failed gamble to hitch the country’s fortunes to China, President Marcos has stoked a warming in Philippine-American relations whose effects can be readily seen. After a reckless attempt to present the Maharlika fund as a fait accompli in Davos last January, the President can finally sign the scheme into law.

In tonight’s episode of In The Public Square, veteran journalist and Rappler columnist John Nery talks to three political scientists: Dr. Jean Encinas Franco of the University of the Philippines; Arjan Aguirre of the Ateneo de Manila University, and Cleve Arguelles of De La Salle University.

Watch In The Public Square on Wednesday, June 7 at 8 pm. – Rappler.com