“A Sept. 21 protest rally on the 53rd anniversary of his father’s martial law declaration has impelled the president into taking a personally painful move”
IN AN interview by Atty. Karen Jimeno over the Bilyonaryo News Channel last Monday morning where we discussed the recent political developments related to the ongoing flood control scams, I concluded by saying the president’s singular legacy must be redemption from the unconscionable corruption that has made governance a heavy yoke upon citizen’s well-being.
Time is running out. Realistically there are but two years left in the active political life of the administration, since by mid 2027, the election season begins, and all attention will be on who would be the next president of the country.
With a huge debt that grows by more than a trillion each year, a 2 trillion recurring fiscal deficit, there is little by way of concrete infrastructure that can be done to serve as his legacy.
With the whole world losing confidence in our political system and our politicians, punctuated by two years of starving big-ticket ODA-financed projects in order to finance congressional greed, the ways and means for economic progress are unattainable for the remainder of the president’s term.
Three years of indecision, of a laid back attitude, even a gentle, conflict-averse character has taken its toll on the economy, resulting in two years of high inflation, underemployment, low domestic and foreign investments, and the decline in the quality of life of everyone save the very rich and the parvenus financed by proceeds of corruption.
In fine, huge political capital unrivalled in decades, was wasted.
The political infighting of the once-vaunted “UniTeam” broke down as soon as the second year of the administration – again because the president, who could have quelled the intrigues and machinations that led to the instigated break-up, did not act.
That UniTeam has been sundered irretrievably. This was highlighted by the passage through sinister manipulation of the 2025 general appropriations act, courtesy of a corrupted legislature, together with the impeachment of the vice president and the surrender to the ICC of a popular former president.
The combination of these factors also led to the humiliating defeat of most administration candidates in the recently concluded senatorial elections.
But the biggest challenge to the administration has come in the form of ungodly corruption, described by the new DPWH secretary as the result of “inhuman” greed, unparalleled in its scope and brazenness.
In his 2024 SONA, the president took pride in some 5,500 flood control projects. Days after, the rains fell, resulting in massive floods, yet despite clear embarrassment, the president failed to act.
Following the results of the mid-term elections, a unanimous Supreme Court resolution doomed the impeachment trial of the vice president in the Senate of the 20th Congress, followed by a week of incessant rains that shocked the nation and laid bare the ugly truth about ghostly and failed flood control projects which caused the loss of hundreds of lives and untold human misery.
“Mahiya naman kayo” in his July 28 SONA reverberated outside the halls of a Congress where hypocritical members stood in ovation despite “in your face” insult.
A maelstrom of protest began, fanning embers of pent-up discontent into rage.
Worse, a “demonstration effect” of angry people in Nepal, Indonesia, and even Belgrade astride the “blue” Danube emboldened the locals, particularly the Gen Zs and millennials.
Incipiently, the Senate changed its leadership in a stealthily-executed coup, but by its exclusion, the new minority has become a pain in the ass, with more troubles lying ahead.
In the House, opposition to the uber-powerful Speaker has been led by presidential allies who have joined forces with a few Duterte loyalists under the standard of an “independent bloc” while the minority is a strange combination of pinklawans and a “company union” of the current leadership.
Efforts to stanch the bleeding in the HoR’s credibility made things worse, with a hastily formed but ineffectual “batang-club” InfraComm trying mightily to battle made up public perception about its members and leadership.
Putting the blame solely on the syndicated DPWH officials and their conscripted contractors was never enough. Blood has to be sacrificed among the legislators, particularly one who has gone into hiding.
An independent commission to ferret out the truth and pin down the collusion between legislators, public officials and contractors has been formed, mercifully composed of three men and a lady whose credentials are trustworthy.
A Sept. 21 protest rally on the last day of the ghost month and the 53rd anniversary of his father’s martial law declaration has impelled the president into taking a personally painful move — such as a change in the HoR leadership, imminent as we write this article.
It has become a “now or never” situation, borrowing the title of an Elvis Presley popularized English rendition of the Neapolitan classic O Sole Mio.
