Three proposals for BBM

The administration of President BBM is suffering from low approval ratings by the Filipino people. He has less than two years to reverse this approval rating and end his term with at least a modest positive percentage.

To my mind, there are only three ways that he can do this. His difficulty is that he cannot regain his desired ratings from any long-term plan that will go beyond his term but he can still find ways to start and end his term on a positive note.

The first accomplishment is to satisfy the public’s desire to have the “Big Fish” in the flood control scandal behind bars. The BBM government has caused the jailing of two senators, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Rodante Marcoleta; Sen. Bato dela Rosa is in hiding, ready to be literally shipped to The Hague to stand trial at the ICC. There are also other senators with pending cases that could possibly land them in jail on alleged non-bailable plunder cases. However, the public does not seem to be satisfied with these cases unless and until his first cousin Martin Romualdez is included in the list for allegedly being deeply involved in the flood control scandals. This is definitely one way his approval ratings can be improved.

The second way is the fact that next year, 2027, the campaign season for the 2028 national elections will begin. This will include the election for a new president, vice president, 12 senators and all the congressmen. At the very least, BBM is expected to support a presidential candidate of proven integrity that will excite the emotions of the Filipino people. At the same time, this candidate must be able to win against the expected candidacy of Sara Duterte. The ideal scenario would be for BBM to support the candidacy of Leni Robredo without any conditions nor any strings attached.

This, of course, requires that somehow Leni Robredo will be convinced to change her mind and run for president.

The other way that there can be a general feeling among the Filipino people that the administration and the elite are sincerely participating in the struggle for a new corruption-free Philippines is by supporting candidates for the vice presidency and the senatorial positions of people of proven integrity like Chel Diokno and Leila de Lima. He needs to avoid supporting candidates who have led scandalous lives, are scions of family dynasties and are linked even tangentially to the flood control and similar scandals.

Finally, he needs to initiate infrastructure and economic projects that would generate massive employment, especially for the lower class. This need to generate employment for people who have only attained high school education or less is the crying need of the population. This is what those campaigning for AI and so-called high value jobs seem to have forgotten. While these types of jobs are commendable, the Philippines needs desperately jobs for those with lower levels of education. These are the people who live on the streets or in so-called areas for the urban poor and who cannot even spend for their simple health care needs. These are the people who cannot even afford three square meals a day, either.

This is the reason I am supporting Pax Silica if it can generate the thousands of jobs that are industrial in nature and will hire these people desperately in need of decent wages. However, most infrastructure projects will take more than two years to become fully realized and will therefore redound to the benefit of the next administration.

However, BBM will get the credit sometime in the future for starting this project. There are two projects I can think of that can be finished during his term that will help improve his image. The first is the Metro Manila Subway which will hopefully improve drastically traffic in Metro Manila.

President BBM should therefore focus on this project and ensure that it is inaugurated before his term ends. This project will also improve drastically the image of Metro Manila in the eyes of the world.

The second project is the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) which actually is already partially done. It was formally launched in April 2024 as an economic development project meant to connect the country’s most important economic centers – Subic Bay, Clark, Metro Manila and Batangas – and transform them into a more integrated network for transportation, trade, manufacturing, technology, energy and investment.

Transportation, however, remains at the center of the LEC. One of its most important goals is to improve the transportation connection between these four enters through better roads, railways, ports, airports and logistics system.

Various projections have suggested that this broad corridor could eventually contribute to the creation of one million jobs. While this figure may be exaggerated, even half this number would be much welcome to the Philippine economy.

The employment could come from many different sources including construction, manufacturing, logistics, technology, engineering, transportation, professional services, retail and other businesses that will develop around the corridor.

For the benefit of the Filipino people and his own legacy, BBM should persevere and accept the challenges of these three suggestions.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]