PHMarcos Jr. and his failures within the last 4 years of being president || Megathread
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This is a working thread. Feel free to respond with criticism, corrections, and any additional discussions
If there are any political figures that you would like to have a similar discussion about, please feel free to either respon to this thread or message me with evidences of their wrongdoings
musicacc727727
Historian by profession, an activist for the betterment of the Nation
-----
Philippine politics has recently taken a stir, with social media flooded with practically very limited narratives exploring what currently is perhaps the most disorganized government the Philippines ever had. This thread aims to reflect what had led to this current situation, primarily focusing on how Marcos Jr. has handled the country so far.
Bongbong Marcos has been the Philippine president since his landslide win in 2022. Throughout his four years of leadership, it's important that we review what he's done wrong, for these matter the most. Public servants are meant to serve people, and while we should be thankful for their good deeds, it should be no surprise that they do such acts, as they are afterall, public servants. But once they commit mistakes, especially with nationwide impacts, it should be our cue to challenge their credibility.
I outlined here some of his failures throughout his presidency, but do expect that it will receive frequent updates, especially since major **** ups do happen quite often.
Here is the continuation of your megathread. I matched your analytical, historical tone and formatted the points to avoid messy nested lists, breaking down the major issues year by year with APA citations as requested.
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Pre-Election
1. False News
The 2022 campaign was won not on debate stages, but in the trenches of social media. Years before he even filed his certificate of candidacy, a well-oiled machinery was already rewriting history, manipulating the vulnerabilities of an electorate systematically deprived of comprehensive historical education (Beltran, 2022).
i. Tallano Gold
This is perhaps the most absurd, yet remarkably effective, piece of propaganda. The myth suggests that the Marcos family’s immense wealth did not come from plundering the nation’s coffers, but from a royal family (the "Tallanos") who ρáíd Marcos Sr. in thousands of tons of gold for legal services. This narrative was crucial because it normalized the family's wealth and effectively bypassed the Supreme Court rulings that had already proven the Marcoses stole at least $658 million from the state. By turning a kleptocrat into an impossibly wealthy hero, the disinformation network gave voters a comfortable alternative to the truth (Mendoza et al., 2023).
ii. Marcos Sr.'s legacy
The rebranding of the Martial Law era as the "Golden Age" of the Philippines was the absolute cornerstone of Marcos Jr.'s victory. Despite international record such as Amnesty International (2022) confirming 3,000 deaths, 30,000 tortured, and 70,000 imprisoned, the disinformation campaign successfully flooded social media, and even news outlets such as SMNI with outright lies. They claimed no one was arrested during Martial Law and that human rights victims fabricated their stories for state reparations. Marcos Jr. himself called his father his "inspiration," riding this wave of historical revisionism to whitewash a brutal dictatorship (Kasuya, 2024).
iii. "Ang kasalanan ng ama ay hindi kasalanan ng anak"
This psychological defense mechanism was weaponized to shield Marcos Jr. from basic accountability. It argued that Bongbong should not be judged by his father's actions. However, this conveniently ignores the fact that Marcos Jr. was not an innocent bystander; he was an ãdül† serving as an official during his father's regime, he legally fought to keep the family's ill-gotten wealth, and his entire political capital is built exclusively on his father's name. You cannot claim the absolute glory of the father while entirely washing your hands of his blood and plunder.
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2022
1. The Sugar Importation Fiasco
Two months into his presidency, while also sitting as the Secretary of Agriculture, the administration was rocked by the Sugar Order No. 4 fiasco. The order authorized the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar, which Marcos initially rejected. This led to massive confusion, sudden resignations in the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), and accusations of state-sponsored smuggling. While the Palace tried to play it off as a "procedural mistake," the crisis drove local sugar prices to absurd highs, hurting millions of Filipino consumers while agricultural cartels thrived (Wikipedia Contributors, 2023).
2. The Maharlika Investment Fund Railroad
The administration prioritized the creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), a sovereign wealth fund launched without a surplus of sovereign wealth. Rushed through Congress because Marcos certified it as "urgent," the initial drafts even attempted to dip into the hard-earned pensions of ordinary Filipinos via the SSS and GSIS. While public backlash successfully removed the mandatory pension contributions, it established a terrifying precedent of bulldozing risky economic policies without proper safeguards or public consensus (Inquirer, 2023).
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2023
1. Inflation and the Kadiwa Band-Aid
Despite his grand campaign promise of reducing rice prices to ₱20 per kilo, 2023 saw inflation skyrocket, heavily driven by the cost of basic food items. Rather than implementing long-term agricultural reforms, Marcos Jr. relied on reviving the "Kadiwa ng Pangulo" pop-up stores. This was a superficial, short-term optical illusion pulled straight from his father's era that did absolutely nothing to address the systemic supply chain issues or protect local farmers from rampant agricultural smuggling.
2. The Confidential and Intelligence Funds (CIF) Outrage
As millions of Filipinos struggled with the cost of living, the Office of the President (OP) and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) requested billions in opaque "pork barrel" funds. The OP spent ₱4.56 billion on CIFs in 2023 alone—making it the absolute highest spender in the government—while Vice President Sara Duterte controversially accessed ₱125 million in just 11 days the previous year without direct congressional authorization in the General Appropriations Act (Geopolitical Monitor, 2023; SunStar, 2024). Watchdogs and civil groups rightfully condemned this, demanding that funds be re-channeled to basic social services and the health sector instead of untraceable surveillance budgets (National Council of Churches in the Philippines, 2023).
2024 - 2026 will be posted tomorrow.
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References (excuse the formatting, I know it's supposed be italicized. Didn't attach the links because it will be clunky, but feel free to note if there's anything wrong or anything you can't find)
Amnesty International. (2022). Philippines: Human rights record of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Beltran, M. (2022, June 29). Disinformation reigns in Philippines as Marcos Jr takes top job. Al Jazeera.
Geopolitical Monitor. (2023, October). Confidential Funds Controversy Erupts in Philippines.
Inquirer. (2023, July 23). Sona report card: Hits, misses from Bongbong Marcos' 2022 promises.
Kasuya, Y. (2024). Disinformation and the Victory of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the 2022 Philippine Presidential Election. Safer Internet Lab.
Mendoza, et al. (2023). When fake news infects political networks: case study of the Tallano gold myth in the Philippines. Media Asia.
National Council of Churches in the Philippines. (2023). On the Controversial Confidential and Intelligence Funds under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Administration.
SunStar. (2024, December 10). Marcos' office remains top spender of confidential, intel funds.
Wikipedia Contributors. (2023). 2022–2023 Philippine sugar crisis.
-----
This is a working thread. Feel free to respond with criticism, corrections, and any additional discussions
If there are any political figures that you would like to have a similar discussion about, please feel free to either respon to this thread or message me with evidences of their wrongdoings
musicacc727727
Historian by profession, an activist for the betterment of the Nation
-----
Philippine politics has recently taken a stir, with social media flooded with practically very limited narratives exploring what currently is perhaps the most disorganized government the Philippines ever had. This thread aims to reflect what had led to this current situation, primarily focusing on how Marcos Jr. has handled the country so far.
Bongbong Marcos has been the Philippine president since his landslide win in 2022. Throughout his four years of leadership, it's important that we review what he's done wrong, for these matter the most. Public servants are meant to serve people, and while we should be thankful for their good deeds, it should be no surprise that they do such acts, as they are afterall, public servants. But once they commit mistakes, especially with nationwide impacts, it should be our cue to challenge their credibility.
I outlined here some of his failures throughout his presidency, but do expect that it will receive frequent updates, especially since major **** ups do happen quite often.
Here is the continuation of your megathread. I matched your analytical, historical tone and formatted the points to avoid messy nested lists, breaking down the major issues year by year with APA citations as requested.
---
Pre-Election
1. False News
The 2022 campaign was won not on debate stages, but in the trenches of social media. Years before he even filed his certificate of candidacy, a well-oiled machinery was already rewriting history, manipulating the vulnerabilities of an electorate systematically deprived of comprehensive historical education (Beltran, 2022).
i. Tallano Gold
This is perhaps the most absurd, yet remarkably effective, piece of propaganda. The myth suggests that the Marcos family’s immense wealth did not come from plundering the nation’s coffers, but from a royal family (the "Tallanos") who ρáíd Marcos Sr. in thousands of tons of gold for legal services. This narrative was crucial because it normalized the family's wealth and effectively bypassed the Supreme Court rulings that had already proven the Marcoses stole at least $658 million from the state. By turning a kleptocrat into an impossibly wealthy hero, the disinformation network gave voters a comfortable alternative to the truth (Mendoza et al., 2023).
ii. Marcos Sr.'s legacy
The rebranding of the Martial Law era as the "Golden Age" of the Philippines was the absolute cornerstone of Marcos Jr.'s victory. Despite international record such as Amnesty International (2022) confirming 3,000 deaths, 30,000 tortured, and 70,000 imprisoned, the disinformation campaign successfully flooded social media, and even news outlets such as SMNI with outright lies. They claimed no one was arrested during Martial Law and that human rights victims fabricated their stories for state reparations. Marcos Jr. himself called his father his "inspiration," riding this wave of historical revisionism to whitewash a brutal dictatorship (Kasuya, 2024).
iii. "Ang kasalanan ng ama ay hindi kasalanan ng anak"
This psychological defense mechanism was weaponized to shield Marcos Jr. from basic accountability. It argued that Bongbong should not be judged by his father's actions. However, this conveniently ignores the fact that Marcos Jr. was not an innocent bystander; he was an ãdül† serving as an official during his father's regime, he legally fought to keep the family's ill-gotten wealth, and his entire political capital is built exclusively on his father's name. You cannot claim the absolute glory of the father while entirely washing your hands of his blood and plunder.
---
2022
1. The Sugar Importation Fiasco
Two months into his presidency, while also sitting as the Secretary of Agriculture, the administration was rocked by the Sugar Order No. 4 fiasco. The order authorized the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar, which Marcos initially rejected. This led to massive confusion, sudden resignations in the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), and accusations of state-sponsored smuggling. While the Palace tried to play it off as a "procedural mistake," the crisis drove local sugar prices to absurd highs, hurting millions of Filipino consumers while agricultural cartels thrived (Wikipedia Contributors, 2023).
2. The Maharlika Investment Fund Railroad
The administration prioritized the creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), a sovereign wealth fund launched without a surplus of sovereign wealth. Rushed through Congress because Marcos certified it as "urgent," the initial drafts even attempted to dip into the hard-earned pensions of ordinary Filipinos via the SSS and GSIS. While public backlash successfully removed the mandatory pension contributions, it established a terrifying precedent of bulldozing risky economic policies without proper safeguards or public consensus (Inquirer, 2023).
---
2023
1. Inflation and the Kadiwa Band-Aid
Despite his grand campaign promise of reducing rice prices to ₱20 per kilo, 2023 saw inflation skyrocket, heavily driven by the cost of basic food items. Rather than implementing long-term agricultural reforms, Marcos Jr. relied on reviving the "Kadiwa ng Pangulo" pop-up stores. This was a superficial, short-term optical illusion pulled straight from his father's era that did absolutely nothing to address the systemic supply chain issues or protect local farmers from rampant agricultural smuggling.
2. The Confidential and Intelligence Funds (CIF) Outrage
As millions of Filipinos struggled with the cost of living, the Office of the President (OP) and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) requested billions in opaque "pork barrel" funds. The OP spent ₱4.56 billion on CIFs in 2023 alone—making it the absolute highest spender in the government—while Vice President Sara Duterte controversially accessed ₱125 million in just 11 days the previous year without direct congressional authorization in the General Appropriations Act (Geopolitical Monitor, 2023; SunStar, 2024). Watchdogs and civil groups rightfully condemned this, demanding that funds be re-channeled to basic social services and the health sector instead of untraceable surveillance budgets (National Council of Churches in the Philippines, 2023).
2024 - 2026 will be posted tomorrow.
---
References (excuse the formatting, I know it's supposed be italicized. Didn't attach the links because it will be clunky, but feel free to note if there's anything wrong or anything you can't find)
Amnesty International. (2022). Philippines: Human rights record of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Beltran, M. (2022, June 29). Disinformation reigns in Philippines as Marcos Jr takes top job. Al Jazeera.
Geopolitical Monitor. (2023, October). Confidential Funds Controversy Erupts in Philippines.
Inquirer. (2023, July 23). Sona report card: Hits, misses from Bongbong Marcos' 2022 promises.
Kasuya, Y. (2024). Disinformation and the Victory of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the 2022 Philippine Presidential Election. Safer Internet Lab.
Mendoza, et al. (2023). When fake news infects political networks: case study of the Tallano gold myth in the Philippines. Media Asia.
National Council of Churches in the Philippines. (2023). On the Controversial Confidential and Intelligence Funds under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Administration.
SunStar. (2024, December 10). Marcos' office remains top spender of confidential, intel funds.
Wikipedia Contributors. (2023). 2022–2023 Philippine sugar crisis.