By: Tina Miranda and Kyle Tejada
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The 17th presidential election last May 9 yielded results heavily in favor of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. Prior to the actual elections, Marcos, Jr. had received, on multiple accounts and instances, a favorable result in polls and surveys conveying the preference of the Philippine electorate.
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To those who opposed his potential claim to the presidency, this was a showing of how biased the polls were and how they reflected fabricated results and did not represent the will of the Filipino people in their preferred president. However, if there was anything that the May 9th elections proved, it was that a return to a Marcos presidency was, in fact, the choice of the majority of the electorate.
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What can those who voted for Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos expect during his presidency and how can those who voted in opposition to him or chose other candidates cope with a second Marcos at the helm of Philippine state governance?
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Tax Evader Becomes President
It is important to note that prior to the landslide victory, Marcos Jr. faced several tax evasion cases, which could have easily been a determining factor in whether or not he was qualified to assume the presidency, to begin with. The same grounds of tax evasion were more than enough for those who opposed his candidacy to file before the Commission on Elections a disqualification case against him, to which COMELEC did not object, allowing Marcos, Jr. to nevertheless run for the presidency, despite having been convicted for his failure to file his income tax returns from 1982 to 1985.
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Several attempts from the Marcoses, both from “Bongbong” Marcos and matriarch Imelda Marcos acting as co-administrators of the late Marcos Sr.’s estate, to file appeals and motions for reconsideration with the Supreme Court have been repeatedly denied, the latter stating that “we (the Supreme Court) do not see any cogent or compelling reason to allow the same issues to be opened anew in the instant petition. As a settled rule, once a judgment or an order has become final, issues therein should be laid to rest.”
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Originally estimated at 23 billion pesos, which has potentially ballooned to 203 billion in totality of the Marcos’ unpaid taxes, the same was not believed by the spokesperson for Marcos Jr. to be final, contrary to that of the 1997 and 1999 rulings of the Supreme Court. Atty. Vic Rodriguez, the spokesperson of Bongbong, through indirect answers, refuses to give any concrete response to the allegations directed at the new president to which he represents, only stating that the incoming president will abide by the laws of the land and swear to uphold the same.
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This begs the question of whether there was the brewing of a conflict of interest in Bongbong Marcos’ presidency and whether the unpaid taxes of the Marcos estate will be left as such—unpaid and forgotten. This is also a question among all Filipinos, both his supporters and his opposition, as there has been a showing of continuous refusal to give any founded answer to the issue of the unpaid tax: Is Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. above the law?
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The turnout of the elections leaves several questions as to Bongbong Marcos’ tax liabilities to the public. The issues that will haunt his presidency leave much to be desired as a result. If one were to look closely at the whole process, from the period of campaigning to the overall tally of the elections, it would seem that, although, with relevant opposition and obvious disdain for some of the aspiring candidates for the presidency, Bongbong Marcos truly was the frontrunner and the preferred choice of the electorate.
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The divide between his opposition, Vice President Leni Gerona Robredo, proved that his followers and supporters would not vote for the latter. However, if the majority does only ever get to vote for their most preferred candidate, will this mean that other candidates such as Francisco Moreno Domagoso and Ka Leody De Guman were all brushed aside automatically in favor of Marcos, Jr., the same candidates not even being considered in the slightest as alternative candidates?
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What about our congressmen and local officials? Does the electorate consider a majority of their candidates based on whether or not they are on their presidential candidate’s slate?
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When There is “Unity,” There is Power
The 11 senators who have been proclaimed are either fervent supporters or political allies of the upcoming Marcos-Duterte administration. It is only Senator Risa Hontiveros, who placed 11th in the race, and Senator Kiko Pimentel who will lead the minority committee under the new administration.
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Actor and TV personality Robin Padilla and Raffy Tulfo are the leading candidates among the 12 proclaimed senators, with over 25 million and 23 million votes, respectively. Loren Legarda, who won another senatorial seat and apparently on her fourth term, came in second, followed by Win Gatchalian in his second term; Chiz Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano, both on their third terms; Migz Zubiri, who is also on his third term and is expected to be the next Senate President following Vicente “Tito” Sotto III; DSWD Secretary Mark Villar, who hailed from the family of billionaire Manny and incumbent senator Cynthia Villar; Joel Villanueva, who is serving his second term; and estranged brothers JV Ejercito and plunder defendant Jinggoy Estrada who are both reelectionists.
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This supermajority of BBM-Sara supporters is the same group of people who have gained popularity over the years, several of them as a result of scandalous claims that they have escaped despite clear evidence of their involvement in these dealings.
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With this skewed balance on the scale favoring Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte, we must ask, “How does democracy work in this scenario?”
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Cha-Cha Underway?
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As first-year law students in the study of Constitutional Law, most of the doctrines that we were asked to analyze revolved around cases that occurred during Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s regime; one of which was the consideration of a charter change by the said administration.
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The attempt was simply borne out of the desire of the late former president, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to extend his term in the highest office. This is according to law professor Dante Gatmaytan of the University of the Philippines College of Law, who, in an article with Rappler in 2018, said that previous attempts to change the form of Philippine governance were solely to benefit a sitting president in allowing the same to extend his or her term, stating that it was skepticism against the fact that led Filipinos to have second thoughts about possible charter change.
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From the Ramos administration until Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term, time and time again, presidents after the promulgation of the 1987 Constitution attempted to bring about charter change, but all these attempts were in vain as charter change was faced with questions from the public consciousness as to what really was the intention of bringing about charter change. Could a second Marcos regime be the catalyst for charter change to finally be a reality?
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In the eyes of a law student, the fact that Ferdinand Marcos Jr., now our sitting president, brings us closer and closer to a potential charter change.
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Hope is the Enemy of Injustice
They say that winning the presidency is destiny. President Rodrigo Duterte said this himself in 2016. Perhaps there is some truth to this, but in special cases, it could just be the outcome of a plot hatched by a band of notorious men. It’s no surprise that we’re in this predicament again—something that we, the millennials and younger generations, whose future is already at stake, have not foreseen, especially since the people once ousted the now incoming first family just over three decades ago.
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Since 1899, the Philippines has elected 16 presidents. But among these national leaders, it’s fair to state that the most infamous of them all is the late dictator and father of the president-elect, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. In public, he was known for his wit and conviction. His matinée charm and ability to get along with people from all walks of life captivated supporters. An outwardly sympathetic man who knew how to utilize his natural charisma to get the people in the palm of his hands.
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In the long reign of Marcos, Sr., he constructed roads, bridges, and buildings, all of which were founded on bejeweled lies alongside his equally well-decorated wife, Imelda Romualdez Marcos. They were ‘the’ couple, as fanatics would put it, despite the patriarch’s adultery allegations in the past. The Marcoses were at the top, flaunting their lavish lifestyle in front of the starving and the dying. They were free to do whatever they wanted, no matter how much it took. In a country where no zebras and giraffes were originally found, a mini African safari in Calauit, Palawan was soon established. Animals were shipped back and forth, and families were displaced without even a home to start anew. They left $26.7 billion in foreign debt, and yet the family gained so much more when they were exiled to Hawaii.
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This is their legacy: a poverty-stricken Philippines divided by faith and principle, the same Philippines that Marcos, Jr., wishes to “unify” today. This is what we fear as students of law. The stories we were taught several years ago that we felt would never happen again, let alone having another Marcos as president, were unthinkable until now.
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As a future member of the bar, it’s difficult to see the reality as it is. Our job as bearers of truth and justice doesn’t end even if faced with the possibility of being silenced for merely expressing ourselves. There’s a lingering fear that our liberties will be compromised sooner or later. Of course, it’s still too early to predict, but with all the history books and victims of a torturous government telling us how it was back then, one can’t help but assume the worst.
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The state of the nation is far from great. There’s a lot of work to be done. But, while we are still a long way from reaching a “new Philippines”, as long as we have that spark of hope within us and allies that are willing to go hand in hand in this seemingly never-ending battle, the fight is not yet over.
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References:
- Mendoza, J. (2021). Court records show Bongbong Marcos did not pay penalty in tax evasion case. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1523352/fwd-marcos-jr-has-not-satisfied-court-judgement-in-his-1995-tax-evasion-case-petitioners
- Pazzibugan, D. and Villa, K. (2022). PPCRV finds 1.6% mismatch in election returns. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1597723/ppcrv-finds-1-6-mismatch-in-election-returns
- Carpio, A. (2022). [ANALYSIS] The estate tax liability of the Marcos Estate. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-estate-tax-liability-marcos-estate/
- Buan, L. (2022). Marcos Jr.’s camp still evades issue of unpaid estate tax. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/marcos-jr-camp-still-evades-issue-unpaid-estate-tax/
- Punongbayan, J. (2020). [ANALYSIS] Can ranked-choice voting fix Philippine politics? Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-can-ranked-choice-voting-fix-politics-philippines/
- Carvajal, N. (2016). Rodrigo Duterte: ‘Winning presidency is destiny’. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/781662/rodrigo-duterte-winning-presidency-is-destiny
- Alconaba, N. (2016). ‘We’ll pay Marcos debt until 2025’. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/774774/well-pay-marcos-debt-until-2025
- Tomacruz, S. (2018). LOOK BACK: Past Charter Change attempts and why they failed. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/193825-past-attempts-charter-change-philippines-failed/
- Pazzibugan, D., Gascon, M., and Santos, T. (2022). Supermajority, family ties shape new Senate. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1599469/supermajority-family-ties-shape-new-senate