In October 2022, Ferdinand R Marcos Jr., our three month brand new president, went to Singapore to watch the Formula One Grand Prix. That particular travel of the president was not announced. I had to assume that the Singapore visit of our beloved leader was a purely personal sojourn and therefore all of us, Filipinos, had no business asking why he had to leave our country without telling us. Here was a pitch made by the grand prix organizers which might have led our president into making the trip. “Known for having one of the most challenging tracks in the world, the FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX is synonymous with high-octane action, grand festivities and unforgettable experiences.” Whew!
I remember that the president’s unannounced visit to Singapore was exposed rather innocently. As we came to know later, some wise guys, unaware that the president’s trip was supposed to be secretive, took a photo of Marcos enjoying watching the prestigious formula one grand prix which was eventually won by Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Pérez.Had it not been of the internet post, the president would have succeeded in keeping from his people that he furtively left the country in favor of a purely personal enjoyment.
Following the FB exposure, our countrymen, excluding the 31 million who voted for him, went into an uproar. The critics denounced Marcos for preferring an extravagant holiday outing over the suffering of his people caused by a typhoon few days earlier. It was not kind of the president’s critics to say that Marcos was callous. True, typhoon Karding devastated several provinces in Luzon, destroying billions-worth of agriculture but it was not the handiwork of the president!
This article today is an attempt to bridge the joyful idiosyncrasy of the President Marcos Jr. and the cherished dream of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, to make our city Singapore like. If this is crazy, blame me.
Here is the Marcos side of this insane idea. I assume that the mind of our president is not different from that of his father. Both of them must be keen on writing their names in our history books. To recall, our country’s Martial Law ruler of decades ago had his bust carved at the peak of Mt. Shontoug in Tuba, Benguet so it could be seen by Baguio-bound motorists as far as three kilometers away from the monument. Sculptor Anselmo B. Dayag was chosen to design and carve the bust. I believe that the Marcos senior copied the idea from famous carvings of four American presidents at Mt Rushmore, Pennington County, South Dakota.
The Marcos junior does not need to imitate his father’s foolhardy. The Mt Shantoug carving became a curse to his family. But, if he can strong arm some billionaires in helping our mayor put up a Formula One race track here in Cebu City, he will be justified in leaving Malacañang to come to our city to watch and enjoy the likes of driver Sergio Perez display their skill.
A President Marcos Jr. support for Mayor Rama to include in the latter’s Singapore-like dream the establishment of a track for Formula One Grand Prix is huge. It will be historic. The Singapore race track is just a little over five kilometers long. A better site is not difficult to find here in our midst. There is a place bounded by Busay, Budlaan-an, Malubog, Babag, Pong-ol Sibugay and Sirao which a Marcos dictatorship decades ago converted into a huge Philippine Tourism Authority golf course. The total area is bigger than the Singapore race track. The president can direct his top legal minds to effect final payment to the previous owners of this vast track of land in order to build his favored Formula one driving range.