The First 30 Days of the Marcos Presidency – The Diplomat

ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will mark his first month as president of the Philippines on July 30. If his efficiency prior to now month has been a glimpse of his management for the following six years, we are able to assume that his presidency can be considerably just like that of his predecessor. Marcos is poised to proceed the legacy of Rodrigo Duterte, minus the cursing and ranting when speaking in public.

Among the many first cupboard appointments made by Marcos had been economists who additionally labored beneath the Duterte authorities. It’s no shock, subsequently, that his financial platform, which he lastly unveiled throughout his state of the nation deal with final week, made quite a few references to the event plan of the earlier authorities. He could also be making an attempt to guarantee native and overseas buyers that he won’t impose drastic modifications with regards to insurance policies coping with the enterprise sector.

However Marcos will certainly disappoint his supporters who anticipate him to rapidly uplift the circumstances of the poor after two years of reeling from the devastating affect of the pandemic. In his two main speeches since turning into president, he made no point out of wage hikes and controlling excessive gasoline and meals costs however he was constant in discussing tax reforms and rationalizing the paperwork. He talked about income era however not about wealth distribution. He enumerated a number of macroeconomic targets however he didn’t clarify how actual progress might be achieved by persevering with the applications of the earlier authorities, which relied closely on money owed and accumulating larger taxes to finance mega infrastructure tasks.

When he addressed the nation final Monday, Marcos impressed many along with his seemingly complete grasp of what must be performed to revive the struggling economic system. In comparison with Duterte’s rambling model of speaking, Marcos will simply stand out as extra articulate. However with out a ready speech, Marcos has additionally sounded awkward in a number of press briefings over the previous month. At one level, he even disagreed with the excessive inflation price primarily based on a report launched by a authorities company. In one other briefing, he confused the general public when he made incoherent remarks concerning the transportation disaster.

As anticipated, Marcos remained silent on different urgent social points similar to corruption, the peace course of, and human rights abuses dedicated by the safety forces. He didn’t talk about the property tax owed by his household to the nationwide treasury. Can he afford to be silent on these pressing issues for the following six years? Can he proceed to whitewash the infamous reign of his father, who dominated the nation as a dictator for twenty years, by merely reviving the populist applications of the Martial Regulation period?

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Marcos evaded many matters however he was most cautious when speaking about Duterte. He vowed to proceed the earlier authorities’s infrastructure tasks however he stopped wanting criticizing Duterte’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He blamed the nation’s financial woes on exterior elements though he rejected the strict lockdown mannequin which the Duterte authorities carried out in 2020 and 2021.

Marcos by no means talked about Duterte’s pending investigation on the Worldwide Prison Courtroom for allegedly committing grave crimes towards humanity. Marcos didn’t even talk about Duterte’s notorious “struggle on medicine” even when the previous president had remained agency in his conviction that the drug menace is the principal reason behind the battle in society.

If Marcos wanted to put down his financial imaginative and prescient, he felt no compulsion to elaborate his peace and order doctrine. Just like his financial crew, a lot of the police and army generals advising him on nationwide safety have been Duterte appointees as effectively. The enforcers of the bloody campaigns towards unlawful medicine and the communist insurgency have been retained beneath the Marcos authorities. The brand new president tacitly endorsed Duterte’s equipment of terror by selecting to protect the legal guidelines, insurance policies, and inter-agency coordination in help of the native “wars” pursued by the earlier authorities.

Marcos ended his public deal with by affirming that the state of the nation was “sound.” It’s a ludicrous declare given the tough affect of the financial and well being disaster. He could possibly be referring to the persevering with dominance of political dynasties and the brilliant alternatives for the financiers of his presidential marketing campaign. Just like the earlier state of the nation speeches, what issues extra isn’t the hopeful narration of the president, however what the chief intentionally fails to acknowledge.