Okay for starters, I get the fascination and romanticism of Ferdinand “Makoy” Marcos’ time as president and what he has accomplished since we continue to see it today and people continue to use these structures. That if you think about it, his accomplishments are very much tangible while what he and his family are accused of are intangible, yes, we might feel its effect on us, but they are not visible to our eyes and therefore easily subjected to other interpretations. I’m not saying that the disappearance of people due to Martial Law isn’t visible, it is just that they are realities of affected people and not of the general public, unlike structures such as buildings, bridges and roads, they aren’t subject to much interpretation other than they are there and serve their respective purposes. So how do you convince a generation that grew up in the days post-martial law who found it difficult to survive because of the intangible defects and consequences of the martial law era? How easy would it be to weave a narrative that things were golden at that time and have these structures as evidence of it?
So I get why people fantasize another “golden era under another Marcos”. But what I don’t understand is why the same group of people would assume that the son can do what the father has accomplished? He was given all the privileges available only to people of his kind, yet he hasn’t even finished his university studies? Ok, so finishing a degree doesn’t guarantee success or a stellar career as there are school dropouts ending up as great industry titans these days. I give you that. Yet has he accomplished anything to give us even a small hint that given extraordinary powers and privileges he’d accomplish more? Oh things aren’t reported by the biased media you say, and yet there is no “unbiased” media that reports his accomplishments that can be corroborated and factually checked to be true. What we have is an “unbiased” reportage of myths and twisted truths that if you only read them with a critical mind, you'd see them as half-baked truths embellished with lies and more lies.
Maka-Leni ka kasi kaya ganyan opinyon mo. Partly yes, but then I’m coming from someone who has sat in so many panel interviews that decided whether someone will be hired in the companies I have worked with and you know, we’ve stopped asking questions of what these jobseekers would do in certain situations, instead we’ve started asking them what they have done in situations that they will certainly encounter and be in once they are hired. Because we believed that someone who has performed and acted in a certain way in the past would certainly behave again in the same way once confronted with similar circumstances. As opposed to someone who says that they think this is what they will do. How have I fared with the candidates I’ve chosen? Obviously they’ve been hired but let me not stop my bragging there, a lot of them have been promoted since then or have been successfully “pirated” by other businesses and organisations. I’m not saying I had a 100% success rate, I sat in panels and of course the hiring process includes convincing other panels or being convinced and we have had hires who I would never hire if the decision was just left to me. What happened? Some left the company after several months, saying they didn’t expect the job to be like that or some who stayed, their performance was really appalling. We either had to manage their performance until we are legally able to let them go. How does this fit into our presidential election? Well for starters all candidates beg us electorates to vote them for the job. Yes, it is a job, not merely a title. So anything they do once in their position doesn’t really deserve our praise, unless it is over and beyond their job descriptions. You don’t applaud a fastfood staff for serving you food, that is their job. In the same way, you don’t applaud politicians for all the bridges and roads they’ve built, that is their job and OUR money. If that is a politician’s job, then why are you all over the moon with Leni you may ask. Well let’s start with the Vice President’s job description according to the constitution. She is elected so that when the person occupying the Presidency is unable to discharge the office of the President, the VP takes over. If the President desires and appoints the VP to a government position, then that position becomes the VP’s role aside from being a spare. In the case of Leni, she was appointed with the drug council but no sooner was removed by the President and never had any official government function - except for being a spare tire. She could have just stayed as VP, received the salary for the position and lived a quiet life with her family until the constitution asked her to do the role she was elected to. Had she done nothing, we couldn’t even blame her for anything.
The problem is that she did. She did a lot of things with no budget, with no official powers to call government agencies and use government resources. She had a clear direction. She was able to move swiftly. More importantly, she was able to move citizens to help the government and inspire people. She didn’t have to issue threats. No foul and vulgar words. No press conferences. No. She and her people were on the streets working hard to help people. That is why it is worth applauding. She did things over and beyond her job description.
And it is not even about being disente, elitist, morally upright that separates her from the current president. It is her clear understanding of the problem and coming up with solutions that actually address it. It is the fact that she can inspire people to give their finances and personal time to help out knowing every cent and scent is well accounted for and reach their beneficiaries. Imagine having that govern our vast government resources!!!
And where was Marcos in all of this? He said he wants to help the Filipinos that is why he wants to be President. He has this plan for the Philippines. But what has he done when the pandemic hit every Filipino? What has he done with all the privileges and contacts that he has who could help him help every Filipino trying to survive the pandemic? Oh he wasn’t in government and therefore couldn’t use the resources of a government office to help. But isn’t the person who started the community pantry in Quezon city, and all other individuals who started community pantries all over the Philippines actually less privileged than him and yet able to make a difference in their communities? They too don’t have access to vast government machinery yet we hear all these stories of heroism from common people. He helped, he just wasn’t humble enough to announce it. So did Leni, it was ordinary people sharing these stories. Why don’t we have ordinary, REAL people sharing Marcos’ works for the ordinary Filipino during the pandemic?
For someone of privileged background and access to resources we could only dream of, his performance and whatever accomplishments he may have are so lackluster, I wouldn’t hire him if he appeared on a panel I am sitting in and that is why he would never get my vote.
