(2ND UPDATE) – Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. took the oath of office as the 17th president of the Philippines, capping his family’s bid to rehabilitate their name three decades after their patriarch was forced out of the country via a peaceful revolution.
Mr. Marcos Jr. will be chief executive of a country still beset by a raging pandemic, a floundering economy and a flailing human rights situation.
His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, will hand an opposition greatly decimated, the media partly delegitimized and institutions weakened after years of subservience.
In his inaugural speech, Mr. Marcos Jr., donning a barong designed by Pepito Albert, thanked the Filipino electorate for giving him a resounding victory: “By your vote, you rejected the politics of division. I offended none of my rivals in this campaign. I listened instead to what they were saying.”
As a presidential candidate, the 64-year-old son of the late dictator repeatedly invoked unity as the first step in resolving the nation’s pressing issues. He offered scant specifics on his policies.
It was a subtle jab at other candidates who, despite telling the truth, were framed diggers of dirt. He said that he was listening to the voices of the people.
“Pinakinggan ko ang tinig ninyo na ang sinisigaw ay ‘pagkakaisa, pagkakaisa, pagkakaisa.’”
Mr. Marcos Jr. said he was not there to look back on the past but on the future that lies ahead for the Philippines: “We do not look back but ahead up to the road we must take to a place better than the one we lost in the pandemic, gains made and lost, opportunities missed, well-laid plans superseded by the pandemic.”
He invited all Filipinos to work with the government to rebuild a country shattered by crises and divisions.
“In this fresh chapter of our history, I extend my hand to all Filipinos. We are here to repair a house divided,” he said amid gloomy clouds and a triumphant audience. “Let us all be a part of the solution that we chose.”
The president laid out his vision for all Filipinos: “Your dreams are mine. Pangarap nyo ay pangarap ko. How can we make them come true? How can we do it together? Sa pangarap na maging mapayapa ang ating bansa, ang pangarap ‘nyo ay pangarap ko. Sa pangarap na maging maunlad ang ating bansa, ang pangarap ‘nyo ay pangarap ko. At sa pangarap na maging mas masinang ang kinabukasan natin at ng ating mga anak, ang pangarap ‘nyo ay pangarap ko.”
Mr. Marcos Jr. promised the nation their trust won’t be wasted.
“You will not be disappointed so do not be afraid. With every difficult decision that I must make I will keep foremost in my heart and in my mind the debt of gratitude I owe you for the honor and responsibility that you have conferred on me,” he said.
He expressed confidence that Mrs. Duterte-Carpio would resolve the woes besetting the education sector, saying she “will fit that mission to a tee,” and asserted that food security would be prioritized.
Mr. Marcos Jr. dubbed Mr. Duterte the best president in the post-Edsa era for his unwavering courage: “I thank my predecessor for the courage of his hard decisions. But there’s a way to put more means and choices in your hands. I trust the Filipinos.”
“My father built more and better roads, produced more rice than all administrations before his. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte built more and better than all the administrations succeeding my father’s. Much has been built and so well,” he added.
But he admitted lapses in the government’s Covid-19 response and vowed to fix them: “There were shortcomings in the pandemic response. We will fix them. No more secrets in public health. Remember: I speak from experience. I was among the first to get COVID. It was not a walk in the park.”
Mr. Marcos Jr. promises to exhaust the fullest capacity of the government to resolve the country’s longstanding issues.
“The potential of this country is not exhausted. I will complete the projects that have been started. I am not interested in taking credit. I want to build on successes already happening,” he concluded.
The inauguration was held at the National Museum of Fine Arts, the site of the Old Legislative Building, where three presidents were sworn-in: Manuel L. Quezon, Jose P. Laurel and Manuel Roxas. None of them completed their term, as the historian Ambeth R. Ocampo pointed out, as Messrs. Quezon and Roxas died in office, while Mr. Laurel dissolved the Japanese regime following the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo administered the oath of office at exactly noon. With his hand placed atop an old Bible and flanked by his family, Mr. Marcos Jr. recited the oath in Tagalog, mandated by Article VII, Section 5 of the 1987 constitution, with a raucous audience interrupting him mid-way.
Tradition encapsulated today’s inauguration, as the president’s office pointed out days earlier. “The program we have prepared is very solemn and simple. It would be very traditional dahil sabi nga ni BBM sa vlog niya, ‘hindi kami lilihis pa sa tradisyon,” Franz Imperial, a committee head overseeing the preparations, said.
A 30-minute military-civic parade flexed the Army’s artilleries, a tradition first seen in a decade as Mr. Duterte and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III opted for simpler rites.
The actress Toni Gonzaga, a staple in Mr. Marcos Jr.’s campaign rallies, sang the National Anthem, while the theater veteran Cris Villonco performed the inaugural anthem, “Pilipinas Kong Mahal.”
Foreign dignitaries at Mr. Marcos Jr.’s inauguration include Australian Governor-General David Hurley, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, Vietnamese Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Sri Saifuddin Abdullah, British Minister of Parliament Richard Graham and the U.S.’s Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, among others.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Marcos Jr. arrived at Malacañang to attend the departure honors for his predecessor. He arrived at 10:27 AM, an hour late, riding a Mercedes Benz. The “Salubong,” first observed in 1946, saw a Mr. Duterte, masked and feeling relieved, walking with an ecstatic Mr. Marcos Jr. in the halls of the palace.
Officials at Malacañang said that Mr. Duterte was not adamant about holding a ceremony and wanted to end his term quietly.
One deviation from tradition was Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio, the 15th vice president, sworn in 11 days ago in Davao City, where she served 12 years.
Mrs. Duterte-Carpio, demonstrating that she is a politican of her own and not just a mere spare tire, promised not to squander the future of children: “I believe the country will be heading towards a future of hope, security, strength, stability, and progress. Magkasama sana tayong bumangon bawat araw kasabay ang nag-aalab na pangako sa ating mga puso na mahal natin, at patuloy nating mamahalin, ang Pilipinas.”
Following her inaugural speech, Mr. Marcos Jr. expressed confidence that her second-in-command would perform well in her job: “I am so proud of her. She’s gonna be great. She will do a great job. I know it.”
Another deviation was Mr. Duterte, who didn’t escort the 17th president to the inaugural venue. He instead fled straight to Davao City, where he will reside upon retirement, which is probably jeopardized by an impending investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Behind the pomp of the inauguration are militant groups protesting at Liwasang Bonifacio, decrying the people’s choice of installing a candidate with heavy baggage. “Pinatalsik na natin, tapos pababalikin pa,” a Martial Law survivor said.
Elsewhere, critics lamented a country who allowed the infamous family to reclaim the highest office in the land.
Ferdinand Marcos Sr. brutalized perceived critics and emptied the country’s coffins, as evident in Supreme Court rulings and legislation intended to compensate victims.
Mr. Marcos Jr. falsified his educational records and avoided paying estate taxes as his family’s executor. During the campaign, he avoided competitive debates and critical interviews, relying instead on well-oiled social media machinery and friendlier media outlets, all working together to dodge criticisms and attack opponents.
Upon the Marcoses’ return to the Philippines, Mr. Marcos Jr. was elected representative of Ilocos Norte’s second congressional district in 1992. He then unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in 1995 as the country was still terrorized by the hostilities of Mr. Marcos Sr.’s two-decade dictatorial rule.
In 1998, he was elected governor of his bailiwick and home province, Ilocos Norte. After three consecutive terms, he returned to his old post as representative of Ilocos Norte’s second congressional district in 2007.
In 2010, as the country was set to elect the son of two democracy icons, Mr. Marcos Jr. placed seventh in the senatorial race, empowered by Manuel Villar, the property tycoon who served as House Speaker and Senate President. Throughout his single term, he authored and co-authored 15 bills that were enacted into law, including the National Health Insurance Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2011.
He failed by a sliver to capture the vice-presidency, defeated by a neophyte representative, Leni Robredo. Only 232,000 votes separate both candidates.
But their rematch this year didn’t go well for Mrs. Robredo. A whopping 31 million chose Mr. Marcos Jr. as the next president, with the incumbent vice president getting only 15 million votes. This election exposed deep fissures in the political system and divided friends and families, as marked by colors and symbols.
The overwhelming success of Mr. Marcos Jr. was made possible by an unlikely political marriage between him and Mrs. Duterte-Carpio brokered by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, giving birth to the formidable “UniTeam” that led in the polls throughout the campaign.
There were signs that the “UniTeam” was not as united as it seemed. Mrs. Duterte-Carpio was given the post of Education Secretary rather than her preferred choice of taking the helm of the Department of National Defense. Both, however, quelled all whispers of tensions.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court unanimously cleared any hurdle for Mr. Marcos Jr.’s inauguration, throwing away petitions by Martial Law survivors to cancel his certificate of candidacy and disqualify him for his non-filing of income tax returns, which, in their view, is a crime involving moral turpitude.
Mr. Marcos Jr. and Mrs. Duterte-Carpio will serve until noon on June 30, 2028, as the Constitution prescribes.
Featured image from RTVM.
The Edj View 