Finally, after 90 days of political dirty tricks, the Philippines can exhale.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., known by the initials BBM, will be inaugurated tomorrow as the 17th president of the Philippines, following a 90-day campaign characterized by a daily jab of character assassination against the 64-year-old who just ignored the jibes by his political opponents and their supporters.
The nightmare of a 2016 electoral defeat following questions of fraud finally came to an end when nearly 32 million qualified voters stamped their go-ahead to the only son of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and when Chief Justice Gesmundo will administer the presidential oath.
Eleven days earlier, in the southeastern coastal city of Davao, BBM’s vice president Sara Duterte-Carpio was sworn in mid afternoon before Supreme Court Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando.
Tomorrow the Philippines, from Batanes down to Tawi Tawi, will listen to “Bongbong” Marcos underline once more his campaign call on his countrymen to unite for the sake of the nation and its 110 million population.
He is expected to give flesh to his vision of a country that has been battered by a deadly health pandemic, a devastated economy, joblessness and problems in many sectors affecting the security of the country, not the least the agriculture sector/
But he is determined to bring his goal to fruition: unity among the Filipinos who have been polarized in the run up to the May 9 polls never before seen in the post-war political rallies of this country.
Marcos’ message of unity is certain to resonate among Filipinos who put their trust in BBM, who called on his countrymen “sama-sama tayong babangon muli” in the rallies they attended north and south of the capital.
And the people listened to the man who never raised a jab against those who called him names and indulged in unceasing character assassination.
Tomorrow he takes his oath to swear or affirm that he will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill his duties as President, preserve and defend the Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man and consecrate himself to the service of the Nation.
The message of unity has been the rock of the UniTeam’s campaign platform – ignoring the relentless vilification lobbed against Marcos.
Nearly 1,000 meters away, leftists and other critics of the President are scheduled to gather at the Liwasang Bonifacio to air their grievances – they always do in every administration turnover – but will be reasonably checked by 15,200 police deployed to secure the perimeter of the National Museum, the inaugural site.
As part of the security cover, the military also imposed a no-fly zone in the air space above the inaugural site to ensure no untoward incident could disrupt the transfer of power from President Rodrigo Duterte to BBM.
As Marcos said during the campaign, there should be no distinction of colors – used to identify political parties and personalities during the election – as the Philippines integrate together for progress and unity.
Tomorrow, there will only be the country’s tricolors.