What will the economy look like under Marcos Jr.?
The BBM mystery of our economy. (Photo: Rappler)
The Philippines has recently finished its national elections with the main frontrunner being Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., commonly referred to as Bongbong Marcos or BBM, as the newly elected president of the country.
Garnering over 31 million votes in a landslide victory over the other candidates, the next 6 years of the Philippines will be in the hands of Marcos Jr.
Considering that the country is now attempting a strong economic comeback after sustaining losses from both COVID-19 lockdowns and the Russia and Ukraine conflict, everyone is eager to see what BBM has up his sleeve. His campaign was famously mute in terms of his plans for the country, with how his camp refused to allow the media to attend rallies and numerous absences in national debates among candidates.
Despite lacking in physical appearances, Marcos Jr. dominated the online space as it took advantage of algorithms and how easy it is to spread any form of information. Now that BBM’s victory is all but imminent, people are starting to worry about what that means for our economy.
More questions than answers
On the international side, investors remain skeptical with how cryptic Marcos Jr. has been in terms of his plans for the economy. A large part of the skepticism comes from reported ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family dating back all the way to Marcos Sr.'s presidency which started in 1965.
It was speculated that if it wasn’t for the mismanagement of the Marcos Sr. government back in its day, the Philippine economy would’ve been thriving with salaries being 3 to 4 times bigger than they are today.
Marcos Jr. has made it clear that he intends to continue president Duterte’s ‘Build Build Build’ program which spent over P1.02 trillion in 2021. Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles mentioned in a press briefing earlier this year that the program was successful and “played a major role in the recovery of our economy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
While the ‘Build Build Build’ program is a good idea on paper—providing more job opportunities and attracting investor interests, there is a question of where the budget will come from because as of now, even Marcos Jr. isn’t sure where he’ll get any of it. He also has to take into consideration the whopping P12.68 trillion (so far) debt of the Philippines his government is inheriting.
Veteran lawmaker Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay has claimed that the first 6 months of Marcos Jr.'s presidency will lack the funds due to 90% of the year’s budget having already been disbursed. A claim that is immediately challenged by netizens due to a lack of proper reasoning and inaccurate wording.
A lot of speculation sees the Marcos Jr.’s government leaning more towards finding technocrats to run the economy alongside securing a relationship with China—something the Duterte administration may have potentially hindered due to its constant aggression towards the country.
A mixed bag
Public sentiment regarding a Marcos Jr. presidency remains fairly mixed with the contrarians expressing concerns about a lack of a proper platform to address pressing concerns, a repeat of the past mistakes of the Marcos Sr. government, and blaming the win on historical revisionism and fake propaganda to paint the Marcos family as victims rather than a name related to a dictatorship.
However, Marcos Jr.’s supporters are ecstatic to see their candidate win, as they believe that BBM is the perfect person to continue the strongman leadership that Duterte started. They think that the presidents that came after Ferdinand Marcos Sr. lacked any significant progress in terms of economic progress. For them, Marcos Jr. is the president that will continue his father’s legacy of opening up the economy to be more investor friendly to the rest of the world.
Marcos Jr. already has plans to strengthen international relationships with countries such as South Korea, Japan, and the USA. He has even opened up conversations regarding the possibility of reviving the Bataan nuclear plant—an endeavor worth $1 billion. Only time will tell just how much those efforts will bear fruit.
Marcos Jr. was not only successful in rehabilitating his family’s image to the majority of the Filipino people, he did so with a commanding victory for the most powerful position in the country. Despite an outcry of worry and doubt for what the future holds under his leadership, it’s hard to deny just how much people believe in him to fix all of our problems. Our money, or whatever’s left of it, is on him.
