Marcos Jr Announces 'New Philippines' With Echo Of The Old

Marcos Jr's speech highlighted his administration's key accomplishments in the past year. But he also unwittingly exposed its deficiencies.

He vowed to boost local agricultural production by improving value chains and calibrating importation. But he continues to sit as
Agriculture Secretary
and has not appointed a permanent successor who can devote more time to the job.

On transportation, he offered an ambitiroad network plan that would link the three major islands to spur economic development. Yet he was silent on the controversial
modernization of public utility vehicles
affecting thousands of jeepney drivers.

Like his father, he placed agrarian reform as one of his administration's centerpiece programs by signing a law condoning the 57.6 trillion peso (US$1 trillion) debt of 610,054 farmers. But he was silent about raising the
minimum wage
for workers nationwide.

In January 2023, inflation peaked at a 14-year high of 8.7%, more than double the administration's 4% target for 2023. Food accounted for nearly half of inflation over the past year.

In his speech, Marcos Jr claimed that prices of rice, meat, fish, vegetables and sugar
have already dropped . But they still
remain high
for ordinary consumers.

It also remains to be seen how much political capital he will expend to fulfill his promise of
going after
hoarders and smugglers who control the supply of these commodities.

During the first year of his presidency, Marcos Jr managed to sign only
six pieces of legislation
- including just three of the 42 priority bills proposed by his administration's Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council.

This lackluster legislative output is puzzling given his administration's high approval ratings, a“supermajority” coalition in both chambers of Congress and his huge electoral mandate in 2022.

The president is open to using some of his
political capital , as in the case of the passage of the country's first sovereign fund - the
Maharlika Investment Fund . The fund will serve as a long-term source of investment capital, fostering economic growth and job creation.

The Marcos Jr administration will utilize it to finance variinfrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and airports as well as attract foreign investments.

Supporters of the bill praised it as a crucial step towards boosting the nation's economy and securing its financial future. Opponents raised concerns about its potential misuse and lack of transparency.

Some have compared it to the corruption-ridden
1Malaysia Development Berhad
that brought down the government of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.

Mythmaking has always been at the heart of the Marcos narrative. A well-oiled social media propaganda machine largely explains Marcos Jr's victory.

In recent years, social media has become the venue for netizens who
look back
at the Marcos Sr years with nostalgia - a“golden age” for the Philippines. Meanwhile, the academic literature generally highlights the regime's excesses, failures and brutalities.

Far from being a“golden age,” the Marcos Sr-era economy was
characterized by
debt-driven growth between 1970–83, followed by stagnation and a deep economic crisis between 1983–86.

The Marcos narrative claims that they were victims of the 1986“people power” revolution“fabricated” by
the United States, oligarchs, the Roman Catholic Church and enemies of the state.

Victimhood is only one part of the Marcos narrative. The more powerful part is
redemption . For most observers, redemption was
the only platform
Marcos Jr presented to the electorate in 2022 - the son that seeks to redeem the family's honor and redress his family's fall.

But Marcos Jr's ultimate goal of redemption is only within his reach if he avoids his father's mistakes.

Julio C Teehankee is Professor of Political Science and International Studies at De La Salle University.

This article was originally published by East Asia Forum and is republished under a Creative Commons license.