In 2022, the Philippine electorate was presented with Team Unity, which supposedly united the Marcos and Duterte factions to offer the best of everything, from the dawn of a golden age to sustained progress, never mind if the 21-year Marcos administration of Marcos, the father, and the six-year Duterte Sr. regime were negative examples of democratic governance and prudent fiscal management. Indeed, the collapse of the Philippine economy happened during the Marcos Sr. era, when the average annual economic growth was a puny 1.8%.
To Duterte’s infamy, he accomplished the unenviable record of raising the national debt to P12.79 trillion, incurring more debt than all previous presidents had borrowed. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is now poised to breach the P17-trillion debt level, with economists predicting that he will surpass the P20-trillion level when he exits in 2028. These figures indicate that the Duterte and Marcos Jr. regimes are not registering any revenue surplus, with money from revenues and non-tax income insufficient to cover state expenditures. In short, for the past nine years, the government has been running on fumes. Both the Duterte and Marcos Jr. regimes have not generated employment opportunities to boost the economy.
A high level of employment is a boon to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which provides more than 70% of state revenues. Stop yakking about the contribution of Big Business. Withholding taxes are the biggest sources of government money, meaning workers, professionals, and state employees sustain the regime, as a former BIR official confirmed. Yet, in the past nine years, jobs in the agricultural sector are thinning out as land conversions eat up arable land, faulty agrarian reform policies prop up landlordism and the mindless food importation policy kills the rice industry. Putting the fate of the country’s rice and sugar industries in the hands of Martin Araneta and Michael Escaler is not an incentive for food producers to cultivate more crops.
So there. The idea that Team Unity would boost the economy, unite the country, and eliminate political bickering achieved exactly the opposite. It is now Team Impunity, with Sara Zimmerman Duterte breaking away from the “alliance” as early as 2023, long after her wish to become Defense Secretary was dashed to smithereens, the result of her not being part of the genuine Marcos allies, or the spawn of tried and tested Marcos crones and underlings. The Dutertes are Johnnies-come-lately in the business of political dynasties and Sara was ostensibly chosen to run as vice president to prevent Duterte Sr. from grooming his valet, Bong Go, to run as the successor to Duterte Sr. Both Marcos Sr. and Sara never energized anyone to bet on the Philippines, including the rich and famous plutocrats who comprise the Private Sector Advisory Committee (PSAC) or the rentier class that have been trying to snag contracts with the state, corner infrastructure projects and create enclaves for themselves, their business jets and Ferraris.
Yet, even these plutocrats are howling now as the glut in the condo market has caused developers to offer 25% discounts. The number of Chinese gamblers has also slid, causing casino owners to howl as attendance has been reduced as the Singapore gambling mecca has lured high rollers. The Consunjis have lost buyers for their condo projects, forcing them to try selling their units to Americans. These vertical jungles do not produce food and the Consunjis are banking on a massive infrastructure program to depend on cement from Cemex, which relies on coal from Semirara for its energy needs. Real estate analysts say the condo glut is at 39 months at least, intensifying the dog-eat-dog market to engage in fire sales.
As the investigation into Sara’s financial shenanigans uncovered a mountain of evidence on the cavalier treatment of people’s money, it showed just how arrogant the Duterte daughter is, and how shallow is her understanding of legislative rules and investigative procedures. A lawyer herself, she didn’t want to testify since the “proceedings were a sham” and that any inquiry would not be impartial and would only lead to impugning her reputation. Everything was political harassment, including the rule of law. In short, she must be “doli incapax,” a Latin phrase that translates into English as “incapable of crime.” The impeachment complaint has been filed, and even if Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero doesn’t like it, the case won’t go away. He is duty-bound to conduct the trial.
So, one down and another to go. The Dutertes are banking on the graft complaint filed against Speaker Romualdez and some lawmakers to proceed but it is anchored on the claim that the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) was railroaded and approved despite having 10 blank pages. The enrolled copy, now called the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), has no such blank pages. Even with or without blank pages, the law signed by Marcos Jr. still oozes with pork barrel embedded in the unprogrammed appropriations (UAs), the public works projects that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) didn’t ask for, and the three dole out programs costing P76 billion that can be deployed to buy votes.
There will still be a raft of charges filed between now and the impeachment trial. Meanwhile, the debt will balloon, a testament to the culture of fiscal impunity of Team Unity. The wasteful spending of Sara and the private appropriation of public funds by the Marcos Jr. regime reminds us of the “wisdom” of US President Herbert Hoover, who said: “Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.” Add this one from Ronald Reagan: “I’m not worried about the deficit; it’s big enough to take care of itself.” Meanwhile, the Marcos Jr. regime is gloating that the Philippines is leading ASEAN in economic growth despite the inflation and despite monthly bond floats here and abroad to scoop up billions to for the principal and interest monthly.
