“After the elections, back to the ‘salt mines,’ after electing misfits, plunderers and celebrities”
If there is any commonality between Filipino and American voters, it is this: both are “nabudol,” street patois for “fooled”.
US voters thought their America would be great again when they voted for the Donald last November. Filipinos in 2022 had a menu of reasons for voting Marcos Junior.
Many were fooled by the promise that a kilo of rice would be brought down to 20 pesos. The poor thought the so-called Tallano gold would be apportioned to the population, clearly fake news. Or that what was stolen during the years of plunder would be returned to the economy.
Still many more believed the vaunted “Uniteam” between a resurgent Marcos dynasty and a strong Duterte brand would mean 12 continuous years of “unity,” panacea to a diminishing quality of life saved only by OFWs and BPOs.
The most ardent supporters of Trump are in the agricultural sector of the Midwest and South. They thought that with Trump’s penchant for protectionism, their farm and livestock produce would get better prices.
His disdain for climate change made the oil-producing states giddy with joy as they ululated with him on “drill, baby, drill.”
But his tariffs, his favorite word in the dictionary, is pushing America back into a mercantilist period that would only mean higher inflation, less markets for agricultural produce as China shifts to other sources, and is likely to result in an economic recession.
He has made a 90-day pause on his tariff war, but who knows what will happen after. The Donald’s erratic policies have discombobulated world trade, and the entire world will feel its impact.
In the 2026 mid-term, with his promised manufacturing renaissance to make America great again likely to still be a pipe dream, his Republican party could lose big, which will cripple the rest of his term.
In the Philippine economy, where growth benefits are only for a few while the rest wallow in misery owing to underemployment and high food prices, little impact is expected with Trump’s “war” against China and the rest of the world..
Our trade volume is low to begin with, and FDI’s will not come in droves even if Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are being punished with more US tariffs because the diseconomies of investing in our country are far greater than the other Asean nations.
While domestic rice prices have gone down because the international market is awash with Indian rice, such that our Viet and Thai suppliers are selling at 40 percent of last year’s prices, the 20 peso promise is as fake as when it was first announced, with traders making their usual killing, while farmers are now crying because they can sell their palay only at break even.
And the rest of the agricultural sector fares no better.
With no industrial base, manufacturing will remain in the doldrums for the rest of PBBM’s term, while the two main life savers of the economy, OFWs and BPOs are under threat from a world recession that means lower demand for their services, not to mention the labor substitution by artificial intelligence.
Of late, a climate of fear has enveloped the business community dominated by the Chinoys.
Kidnappings are on the rise, with hundred million ransoms demanded by syndicates rumored to be active men in uniform.
Suspense grips the community as the son of a billionaire construction materials supplier is yet to be released where the ransom demanded is a cool half a billion pesos.
Meanwhile, the only solution government offers is ayuda in the form of all sorts of rationale, legalized vote-buying for the mid-term elections, courtesy of our congressmen.
After the elections, back to the “salt mines,” after electing misfits, plunderers and celebrities.
If we go by the March snapshots of voter sentiment, one can only conclude that our voting public never learns. Clowns and charlatans will dominate the chamber of the once-august.
Nabudol na nung 2022, mabubudol na naman ngayon. “Di na natuto” as the lyrics of a song relate.
Still and all, we wish our readers a Happy Easter in the hope that Christ’s resurrection can bring our long suffering people some relief in the midst of all the pambubudol we keep getting from our leaders.
