By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter
PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. did not push significant political reforms during his first year in office, political analysts said on Thursday, citing power struggles and delays in his appointment of key Cabinet officials.
He should have focused on laying down the foundation for reforms that have long-term impacts, Ateneo de Manila University political science professor Arjan P. Aguirre said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “Appointing key Cabinet officials was delayed, and he got distracted by political squabbling within the government, forcing him to prioritize how to keep the coalition intact.”
“The delivery of promises is a work in progress,” Mr. Marcos Jr. told reporters. “It’s not something that you say, ‘It’s complete. I finished it,’” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “This is an ongoing process. Again, we have to bear in mind that the international situation has changed in terms of trade, in terms of geopolitics. And so, we are having to adjust to that.”
Mr. Marcos, 65, is considered a continuity president, picking up from where his predecessor Rodrigo R. Duterte left off. Mr. Duterte left the government in a heavily divided state, critics said.
His performance in the past year has been “unremarkable,” said Cleve Kevin Robert V. Arguelles, president of WR Numero Research and a political science professor at De La Salle University in Manila.
“It’s a case of a president who overpromised but underdelivered,” he said via Viber message, citing his failed promise to boost agriculture.
“The prices of rice didn’t fall, and Filipinos continue to experience scandalously high prices of basic food commodities like onion,” he said. A recent Social Weather Stations poll showed that more than half of Filipino families consider themselves poor.
His anti-corruption fight also leaves a lot to be desired, Mr. Arguelles said.
Mr. Marcos has yet to take significant steps to boost democratic institutions that were put in place after the dictatorial rule of his late father and namesake, Leonardo A. Lanzona, who teaches economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in an e-mail.
“Where is the Presidential Commission on Good Government now?” he asked, referring to the agency set up by the late Corazon C. Aquino to go after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies. “How significant is the Commission on Human Rights today? What about the National Anti-Poverty Commission with the appointment of Larry G. Gadon as adviser on poverty?”
The president also contradicted his so-called rightsizing push by creating new posts, the analysts said, citing the appointment of Mr. Gadon, whom the Supreme Court disbarred this week for hurling profanities against a local journalist in 2021.
‘SUB-PAR’Mr. Marcos “has never shown any goodwill in this vein since his inauguration,” said Hansley A. Juliano, a political economy researcher studying at Japan’s Nagoya University, referring to democratic reforms.
Presidential appointments reflect “the payment of political debts rather than picking the best people to lead development,” Enrico P. Villanueva, who teaches economics at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, said in a Messenger chat.
He said presidential appointees except for the Defense post have been “sub-par.”
“We need convincing proof of environmental protection from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” he said. “The Education secretary seems more concerned on insurgency and terrorism, rather than the learning poverty. The Tourism programs are not bad per se, but not inspiring either.”
“The President in general has been saying the right things, but still doing things his way — reviving his father’s programs and paying political debts,” Mr. Villanueva said.
Mr. Marcos took office in June last year amid China’s increasing aggression in the South China Sea.
“Marcos highlighted how his wariness of falling deeper in existing spheres of influence has catalyzed his aim for the Philippines to remain balanced in its strategic equations,” Don Mclain Gill, who teaches foreign relations at De La Salle University, said via Messenger chat.
“He also emphasized how the role of the US and the treaty alliance will remain significant in Philippine foreign and security policy under his leadership,” he added.
Mr. Gill said the president has shown willingness to keep economic relations with China while boosting defense ties with the US. “At the same time, he has stated that ties with China would continuously be cultivated to avoid exacerbating the already tumultuous security architecture of Southeast Asia.”
Mr. Gill cited China’s belligerence after pledges made by the Philippine leader and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in January. “China continued to illustrate its unwillingness to set aside its narrowly defined objectives for the region in order to be a better neighbor.”
“It has also shown that what it says at the political level rarely gets operationalized on the ground,” he said. “It is important to note, however, that Marcos already placed the ball in China’s court since the beginning of his administration.”
Mr. Marcos has sought to offset the growing challenge to Philippine sovereignty by improving defense ties with the US and allies Japan and Australia, Mr. Gill said.
“However, Marcos has emphasized how its deepening and broadening security relations with the US and its allies does not represent Manila’s intent to shift away from China,” he said. “There is no indication that Manila would be willing to engage purely in bloc politics or be engulfed by the US-China power competition.”
Mr. Marcos “will have to consistently and proactively harmonize his long-term goals with the security shifts taking place in the region.