Not so bold

Something old, something new... the increasing jokes about the ongoing revamp indicate public impatience with the promised “bold reset” of Marcos 2.0.

After Episode 2 of the reorganization, it’s starting to look like a purge not just of underperformers and suspected crooks, but mostly of officials seen to be sympathetic to the Dutertes.

Menardo Guevarra, who recused the entire Office of the Solicitor General from defending the government in the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte, could no longer count on his school ties with the First Lady. Guevarra, Duterte’s last justice secretary, has been Marcos’ solicitor general “since the beginning, and maybe it is time for him to go to another venture,” according to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who announced phase two of the revamp.

Guevarra’s replacement, Darlene Marie Berberabe, was plucked out of her job as dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law.

Another Duterte appointee, J. Prospero de Vera III, is also out as chairman of the Commission on Higher Education.

As of yesterday, Duterte Cabinet member Eduardo Año’s fate as BBM’s national security adviser remained uncertain. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who has been retained, had revealed that Año was part of the core group that planned Duterte’s arrest, providing the group with intel on the former president’s trip to Hong Kong and subsequent return to Manila.

Also uncertain is the job of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, former spokesperson for Vice President Sara Duterte. Frasco’s mother, Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, sided with the administration in the UniTeam breakup, and BBM personally campaigned for her and her team.

It says a lot about BBM’s endorsement power midway through his term that Garcia lost to a newcomer (backed by the Dutertes), who won even in the Frasco bailiwick of Liloan town.

The governor’s nephew, Raymond Alvin Garcia, also lost in his reelection bid for mayor of Cebu City, to a candidate backed by Tomas Osmeña, who won as city vice mayor.

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Bersamin said there is a “rigorous and ongoing evaluation of government performance not only at the Cabinet level but across the entire bureaucracy.”

“The people expect results and the President has no patience for underperformance,” Bersamin said in announcing phase two of the reset. “Some have delivered, others have not.”

He said Marcos accepted Guevarra’s resignation “to allow for fresh blood to come in,” denying that it had anything to do with the ousted solgen’s refusal to defend Duterte’s arrest.

While it may be true that BBM is unhappy with the performance of several agencies, Malacañang cannot dispel perceptions that politics also plays a role in the reorganization, and that it is partly a loyalty check.

The selection of Nicolas Torre III as the new chief of the Philippine National Police has reinforced this perception. Torre led the posse that arrested Duterte as well as the manhunt for Apollo Quiboloy in Davao City.

Those challenging missions justify Remulla’s description of Torre as a guy who gets things done. So maybe this is truly what BBM wants from his team.

Torre jumped ahead of the last two batches of Philippine Military Academy graduates still in the PNP, becoming the first graduate of the PNP Academy to head the civilian police force.

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People are still waiting for changes in the frontline agencies, although expectations for “bold” changes have been tempered by the retention of Ralph Recto.

BBM, in ordering the courtesy resignations, said that “the people have spoken... We hear them, and we will act.” So what happened to Recto?

As finance chief, Recto signed the February 2024 circular impounding “excess funds” of all government-owned and controlled corporations, including the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., for realignment to the new pork barrel of his former Congress colleagues, the unprogrammed appropriations in the 2024 budget.

Even with the PhilHealth issue still with the Supreme Court, the creative fund juggling was repeated in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), with funding for state-funded ayuda blown to colossal proportions for use by the thieves in their election campaigns.

The budget thievery eclipsed the scandal over VP Sara’s confidential funds, and the resulting uproar has to be among the factors that pulled down the Alyansa Senate bets.

So it’s puzzling that Recto has been retained – unless he was merely carrying out the orders of BBM in impounding the “savings” of PhilHealth and other GOCCs.

Also, the budget mess was principally the handiwork of Congress; Recto has said he was merely implementing the special provision in the GAA. Will Congress leaders also become casualties of Alyansa’s weak showing?

At this point, Chiz Escudero’s hold on the Senate presidency looks precarious. At the House of Representatives, where Malacañang wields influence in the selection of the speaker, is BBM ready to jettison his favorite cousin, the arch enemy of the Dutertes?

Recto, incidentally, also authored the Senate bill lowering to 18 the age limit for buying vapes – a measure that continues to dismay public health advocates.

Some reasons given for the acceptance of courtesy resignations can be entertaining.

Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, who lost her post as environment secretary in the initial phase of the revamp, was saddled with perceptions “that she was frequently abroad,” Bersamin said.

It begged the question: but who is the biggest jetsetter in this administration? Hello, Formula One...

Corruption and underperformance have been cited by Malacañang as reasons for the acceptance of resignations. So far, the only ones ousted specifically for corruption are the two top officials of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Arnell Ignacio and Emma Sinclair, over a P1.4-billion land acquisition deal.

Maybe we’re just a querulous bunch. It’s been just two weeks since BBM announced his government reorganization.

We might yet be awed by the boldness of the reset.