It’s a hard act.
That’s the President, in the words of Robert B. Reich, former labor secretary of former United States President Bill Clinton, in his book ‘Locked in the Cabinet’.
By this, Reich explained ,the President is to act both head of government and the symbol of the nation. “Governing involves compromises and the nitty gritty,” he said, while symbolism requires nobility and grandeur.”
His high-minded view of the American presidency might as well be ours, or any democratic president, for that matter, if only for historical reason. They once had a Camelot; we tried to copy and the rest is a cliché.
At the very least, it is a hard act because the President is not only the president of those who agree with him but those who don’t. It’s the essence of presidential democracy that is theoretically sound but has not been practiced well, especially in these parts. Unfortunately, politics doesn’t require intelligence, so Mills wrote.
Once upon a time, the dictator-father of the only son who is now the country’s president, mused over Plato’s combination of philosopher and king as the ideal president, or leader of the country for that matter. He knew how the Roman empire was built; he forgot its end. Does the son, who also rose after an embarrassing family exile, embody the qualities he had in mind?
The son, to be sure, is probably facing a tougher time and, therefore, must perform a harder act. First off, the son has to restore a badly damaged reputation on the global stage. Much of the recent state visits were apparently done in a hurry, armed with political opportunism and seat-in-the-pants political wisdom. It must be in the genes.
The nation is currently hobbled by many domestic problems, many of which, in fairness, are beyond his control, or that of his Cabinet – the best and the brightest , presumably. But the buck stops at the presidential table. Fuel prices are soaring. So are food prices whose local supplies are falling. Inflation is worrisome at its current trend. The number of the poor has risen even as the middle class feels squeezed between the have-mores and the have-lesses.
Then there is China, an ever-present, if not imminent, threat. A few days back, the ancient kingdom bared his teeth menacingly in the West Philippine Sea when a Chinese ship blocked a Philippine ship towing a rocket debris that was identified as belonging to China and then forcibly cut it off from the towing ship. A note verbale is on its way to Beijing to protest China’ s action. On top of this, several blasts rocked the area near some small islands within the Philippine maritime territory. China is also pointed to, believed, as the only explanation, for whatever reason.
It was no small coincidence because both questionable actions happened at the time the second highest official of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris, was in town to assure President Marcos Jr. and sundry that the US will defend the Philippines when push becomes shove, or worse, Of course, she knew China was listening.
It wasn’t only PBBM that felt assured; even those who oppose him did. Now, we’re relatively safe; the bully can’t just walk over us. Far away Ukraine is a wake-up lesson in alliance which, earlier, we were told by him, or was advised to tell us, that it’s not our war, and besides we’re thousands of miles away. But we feel, no, we suffer the fall out.
In the face of the increasing prices of basic goods like fish, rice and other commodities, there is a consensus why it is happening: government is to blame for the unbridled importation that has virtually impoverished agricultural production locally. For instance, galunggong, which used to be the poor man’s meat, is now imported from China whose fishermen use modern fishing vessels and equipment to haul them off from the West Philippine Sea while Filipino fisher folks are harassed by Chinese boats with their soldiers or militia on board.
In the meantime, President Marcos Jr. has taken the portfolio for agriculture. So far, farmers and fisher folks are waiting for a miracle to happen under his watch. When he said lately on the occasion of Vic President Harris’s visit that he couldn’t see the future of the Philippines without the US vital role in it, he was thought of thinking of the Americans as the big brother against the bully China which seems to be spoiling for some skirmish of sort in the WPS.
In fact, three important Cabinet positions are still vacant: agriculture, health and defense. He has often called his economic team a great team. The three mothballed positions may not be his priority or as great. It’s probably the only time that a President has been less decisive about his choices for the posts. Early on in his campaign, he was asked if he was a Machiavellian by his future national security adviser. He momentarily demurred but, yes, he admired the Italian philosopher. If only he read Moses, or his father-in-law, he would be wiser to fill up the vacuum with a sense of urgency. There is a future to build from the ruins of misgovernance dating back to a nostalgic golden era when rice was at P25 per kilo,etc. As advertised, the future or the past is nearer than you think.
The President is also a model, or should be. His initial appointee to the tax collection agency expressed that high hope. She lost her post eventually. Things happen for a reason. PBBM and his co-administrator of their wealth, both hidden and known, have been told to pay the estate tax amounting to P23 billion. That was more than 20 years ago. This has ballooned to P203 billion. PBBM has complained about the lack of due process in the Supreme Court’s final ruling. Now, there’s a hint from no less than the Chief Justice that no SC decision is cast in stone. That’s a new interpretation of ‘final but not necessarily infallible’. The new tax collector is said to be a relative. Connect the dot.
There is one noisy rascal to take care of before the unholy alliance explodes into pieces. Murphy’s Law: it something can go wrong, it will. Many presidents have ignored that but Pnoy made the right, if delayed response, and an international court decision ruled China’s fictitious nine-dash-line claim is not from heaven. No wonder, Harris’ trip to WPS and the brave assurance.
The long, hard road is still a long, long way ahead. Will the hard act rise to the occasion?
