My new year’s wish: For PBBM to do better

I wish I could say that 2026 brings hope and optimism for the country. I can’t, in all honesty. Look at what the Marcos administration has brought… the national emergencies in education, health care, food security, infrastructure and corruption persists – and, in many ways, is worsening. Adding insult to injury is that our once strong economy has stalled, thanks to corruption and the failure to enact meaningful reforms.

I wish things were different but the statistics tell the story. The country is falling behind in most aspects of development – in attracting investments, in agricultural and manufacturing outputs, in AI adoption and in innovation. The Philippines is the region’s laggard in tourism, in diplomatic gravitas and in soft power.

The country’s competitiveness has slipped to a point where the economy only relies on remittances and household spending to sustain itself. This administration has failed to develop new competitive industries even amidst the threats of AI and tariffs to our IT-BPO and semiconductor industries, respectively.

This administration has no industrial policy, no strategy for international trade and no ambitions for technological advancements. At least none that it pursues with vigor.

In the middle of it all is President Marcos Junior and his style of leadership – one seemingly bereft of ambition (for the country) and urgency. Marcos started with no vision for his presidency except for the vague promise of “unity.” We now recognize that “unity” was his shield against scrutiny. Why? Because spreading the gospel of unity gave him an excuse not to define his platform, ambitions, plans and programs. He apparently had none – and now it shows. He relied on propaganda and his an army of trolls to win the elections.

In January 2024, he launched the Bagong Pilipinas movement. But it proved to be all propaganda, absent of substance. He doesn’t even talk about it anymore.

The dictator’s favored son got what he wanted. He captured the presidency – and with it, the chance to rehabilitate his family’s tarnished name and legitimize its long-contested wealth. Like his father, the son is extracting from the presidency – legitimacy, power and legacy – but once again, at the nation’s expense. Talk about a generational liability.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not wish for Marcos to resign. The alternative could be catastrophic. What I wish is for him to do better.

I want him to aspire for more than just the tired soundbite of wanting to eliminate hunger. He needs to have greater ambitions for the country like Malaysia’s PM Anwar Ibrahim who aspires to make Malaysia a global hub for semiconductor and energy production. Or Vietnam’s president Luong Cuong who is working towards a dynamic green economy based on manufacturing, technology and innovation.

I would like Marcos Junior to address, once and for all, the cancers that have impeded national development for decades. These include political dynasties, the party-list system, a broken education system, a corruptible justice system, weak law enforcement, fragmented infrastructure, bureaucratic red tape, expensive power cost, agricultural stagnation and poor urban planning.

The challenges are daunting. But Marcos Junior signed up for the job. He is duty bound to tackle these problems. Anything less would be a disservice to the Filipino.

I would like to see him focus on issues that matter, not just populist issues. Not to surround himself with mediocre family friends but with competent experts who can challenge his assumptions and push for reforms that outlast political cycles. To be present, not just ceremonially, but substantively. To be transformative.

Corruption

Corruption has always plagued Philippine society but Marcos Senior and Imelda pushed it to grotesque extremes. The consequences of Marcos Senior’s regime runs deep. Outside destroying the foundations of the economy, the couple developed a culture of impunity so embedded in government that it continues to plague the country today.

Marcos Junior was given the precious second chance to redeem and correct the long-rotted foundations of corruption. But so far, the picture does not look good.

A recent report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) notes that former speaker Martin Romualdez and cousin, President Marcos Junior, presided over and approved the last three national budgets – budgets bloated with so-called “allocable funds.” This new incarnation of pork barrel amounted to a whopping P1.2 trillion over three years. Following the budget approval, the congressional districts of Sandro Marcos and Martin Romualdez received the largest recipients of these allocable funds.

That these budgets were shepherded and authorized by Romualdez and Marcos, while the largest shares ultimately flowed to their families’ political bailiwicks, raises serious questions about whether corruption stems from the top.

This, in turn, helps explain why the crusade for accountability has been painfully slow. The delay appears to be deliberate – meant to exhaust the public until anger gives way to apathy. It also explains why promises of structural reform to prevent the recurrence of institutional plunder have remained largely rhetorical, with little of substance enacted.

Our worst nightmare seems to be coming to pass. Corruption patterns from Marcos Senior’s regime are repeating itself in Marcos Junior’s time.

But there is hope. There are signs that Marcos Junior may be pushing for consequential reforms. He recently ordered Congress to prioritize the Anti-Dynasty Bill, the Party-List Reform Act, the CADENA Act and People’s Commission Act. This comes as a pleasant surprise.

Many argue that this is a publicity stunt meant to placate public anger and that these bills will never make it to law. Let us see. If Marcos truly pushes for and succeeds in passing the Anti-Dynasty Bill, in particular, it will compel me and scores of others to favorably reassess our judgment of his presidency. Like I said, I would like him to do better.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan