First word
BY the very definition of the term “lame duck” (a lame duck says the dictionary is an official whose term is set to expire or who will soon be supplanted in his position), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has entered the twilight of his presidency — the second half of his six-year term. No one expects him to make waves now with a new policy or initiative like Donald Trump, the warmonger.
The clock is ticking on his watch, yet BBM appears to have nothing cooking for the second half of his term. Unless a subaltern or adviser does an Alan Peter Cayetano by concocting a scheme to divide the presidency into little pieces for sharing by politicians and bureaucrats, this is the end of the road for the Marcos II administration. There is no formula or tradition of turning the last hundred days of a presidency into an event.
Except for this implacable reality: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., aka Bongbong, is indisputably and constitutionally president of our Filipino republic this year, 2026 until 2028, when his presidential term will close at noon of June 30, 2028, and a new president will simultaneously be sworn into office and will take over the helm of government.
With this transition process written on the wall, President Marcos II will probably and thoughtfully steer clear of the great disputes of the times in order to make his exit smooth, and free of fuss and controversy.
He could treat with just a shrug the antics of those who have started the countdown on his presidency while it still has a pulse, or he may view with mild amusement the feverish planning and positioning of those who aspire to succeed him by running for president in the 2028 presidential election.
It is not inappropriate to regard this second half of the Marcos II presidency as some kind of twilight zone. A twilight zone, says the American Heritage Dictionary, is an area of ambiguity between two states or conditions. We are living in a time of ambiguity between the final stage of the Marcos II presidency and the incoming administration that will succeed him.
It is a time that cries out for leadership. We are caught in confusion over the fragmentation of our society, the moral disorientation of our public institutions and the seeming disintegration of values.
We are anxious for action to address the urgency of the problems, but no one is on hand to lead the way. The Catholic Church, through the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, says the country is in a state of moral fatigue, wearied by the problems swirling around us. Others think our constitutional system is failing because of the colossal corruption in the government service.
Over all this turmoil, President Marcos II is our president and our commander in chief. Writing off the last three years of his term will not bring anyone faster or closer to Malacañang.
On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that President Marcos II will elect to leave office without leaving behind a historic and eventful presidency as his calling card.
From what I know of the man and the Filipino presidency, after a half century of work in political journalism and policy studies, I do not believe that President Marcos II will consent to a depiction of the second half of his term as a kind purgatory wherein he must diligently labor to regain the trust and confidence of his countrymen. He will not slink away from his public role as president of our nation of 120 million people. He will not turn away from the challenge of leading the nation out of the slough of despond and pessimism to which the plunder of billions of public money for flood control has plunged us. He will put a stop to the erosion of public confidence in our politics and public institutions.
He who alerted the nation to the imminent plunder of billions from flood control during his third State of the Nation Address last year will come up with a program for national recovery that will enable the nation to recover its bearings and ability to shape the future.
I venture to predict that President Marcos II will consecrate the last three years of his presidency to a program of rebuilding and national transformation that will restore national politics to right and forever exile corruption and misconduct in the government service.
The time for such rebuilding and transformation is at hand. President Marcos II will lead the way.
He will rally all regions, all sectors and all our people behind this resolute program for national reform and transformation.
There will be no rest until this vision is fully attained.
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