AFTER SERIES OF RESIGNATIONS IN FIRST 100 DAYS, ARE CRACKS EMERGING IN MARCOS’ UNITY?

MANILA — On the campaign trail, then presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. offered unity as a panacea for the Philippines.

Instead of specifics, a vague concept of unity that was sold to voters, many of whom were still reeling from the unprecedented crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

Unity carried Marcos through the 90-day campaign period that ultimately led to his election to Malacañang, where his message of unity still reverberates as he continues to reference it in his speeches here and abroad.

But for two key Malacañang officials, this unity only took them so far as they parted ways with the Marcos administration even before it marked its 100th day in office.

The little president

First, it was Vic Rodriguez, a long-time aide of Marcos who served as his spokesperson during his failed poll protest against former Vice President Leni Robredo and during his successful presidential campaign.

Rumors initially swirled that Rodriguez, who was then serving as executive secretary, would soon be out from Malacañang following the sugar importation mess that he got dragged into but was ultimately cleared from any wrongdoing.

Rodriguez did eventually leave his position, saying in a statement on his Facebook page that he wanted to see how his family “grow and evolve into how every parent would wish them to become.”

After Rodriguez’ unceremonious exit from Malacañang came another: This time, it was the turn of Trixie Cruz-Angeles, a lawyer and vlogger who heavily promoted the Marcoses on her social media accounts and a known close associate of the former executive secretary.

Beyond Malacañang, another resignation rocked the Marcos administration before its 100th day in power — that of Jose Calida as Commission on Audit chairperson.

Calida, a staunch Marcos loyalist who even campaigned for the president during his bid for the vice presidency in 2016, had left the position after having been on medical leave.

These successive resignations prompted opposition lawmaker Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay, 1st District) to call on Marcos to be “discerning and cautious” in appointing officials.

On top of these, parts of the government’s bureaucracy are still running headless.

There is still no health secretary and then, there is still no agriculture chief as Marcos still holds the portfolio of this agency despite calls for him to appoint a permanent secretary.

The bottomline

Observers and analysts say that these movements among the president’s people indicate that power blocs are at play, which is not unusual for recent administrations.

“The period of early presidency is when Malacañang factions try to settle [the] balance of power, and they're free to do so as long as it isn't fatal to the president,” said political scientist Cleve Arguelles on Twitter.

GUNMAN MURDERS AT LEAST 35 IN THAI NURSERY ATTACK

A former police officer shot dead at least 35 people, most of them children, when he stormed a nursery in Thailand on Thursday in one of the kingdom's deadliest mass killings.

Following the attack, gunman Panya Khamrab went home and killed his wife and child before taking his own life, police said.

Armed with a shotgun, pistol and knife, Panya opened fire on the childcare center in northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province at about 12:30 pm (0530 GMT).

Police Colonel Jakkapat Vijitraithaya from the province where the attack happened told AFP that the gunman killed 35 people, including 23 children and his own family, and wounded 12 others.

Nanthicha Punchum, acting chief of the nursery, told of harrowing scenes as the attacker barged into the building.

"There were some staff eating lunch outside the nursery and the attacker parked his car and shot four of them dead," she told AFP.

"The shooter smashed down the door with his leg and then came inside and started slashing the children's heads with a knife."

Footage after the incident showed distraught parents weeping in a shelter outside the nursery, a yellow single-storey building set in a garden.

The 34-year-old gunman was a former police sergeant suspended in January and sacked in June for drug use, National Police Chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat told reporters.

"As far as I know he was due in court tomorrow for a drug-related trial," he said.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha ordered the national police chief to "fast-track an investigation" and said he would travel to the scene of the attack on Friday.

REDUCING GLOBAL POVERTY BY 2030 REMOTE—WHO

COVID-19 has dealt the “biggest setback” to global poverty reduction efforts in decades, and the World Bank warned Wednesday that the goal to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 likely remains out of reach.

Poverty rose sharply during the pandemic, and the development lender estimates about 70 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, the biggest one-year spike since monitoring began in 1990.

The report offers the first tally of those struggling to live on less than $2.15 (P126.25) a day, the new global definition of extreme poverty, but follows many warnings from the global development lender that poorer nations are being left behind.

Earlier this year the institution warned that as many as 95 million people would fall back into extreme poverty by the end of this year.

War in Ukraine, rising inflation, and slowing global growth have put further pressure on the bank’s mission to lift people out of poverty.

“Inflation, currency depreciations, and broader overlapping crises” point to a grim outlook, World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement.

“Progress in reducing extreme poverty has essentially halted in tandem with subdued global economic growth,” he said.

Global extreme poverty had fallen to 8.4 percent by 2019 from 38 percent in 1990, but the pandemic triggered the first rise in more than two decades.

Amid the setbacks, the report projects the global extreme poverty rate for 2030 will only fall to seven percent or nearly 600 million people.

SPEAKER LAUDS PRESIDENT FOR STEADY RECOVERY PATH

With President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. marking his first 100 days in office today, House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Thursday lauded him for steering the country in the right direction “of robust economic growth” and gaining steady progress toward full recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Philippines is right on track, and is sprinting steadily during the first 100 days of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Our economy has bounced back from the ravages brought by the global pandemic and has already reached the first stage to full recovery,” Romualdez said.

“The future indeed looks brighter under the Marcos administration. Businesses now ramping up activity, new jobs are created, and lost jobs are restored, and economic activities have turned dynamic once again,” he added in a statement.

Meanwhile, the President believes he has successfully assembled a “functional” government composed of the best and the brightest Cabinet members as he marks his first 100 days in office on October 8.

PBBM VOWS TO BOOST AGRI SECTOR, FIGHT HUNGER

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday vowed to strengthen the agricultural sector and continue to fight hunger across the country as he cited several government programs designed to help farmers and fishermen, which includes fuel discounts.

Speaking at the opening of Agrilink/Foodlink/Aqualink Trade Fairs 2022 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Mr. Marcos assured the public he has been prioritizing the agriculture sector ever since the beginning of his term.

“The strengthening of the agricultural sector is the strengthening of survival, the strengthening of life. And that is how important we have always considered the agricultural sector. And that is why I took on the portfolio,” Mr. Marcos, who currently sits as Agriculture Secretary, said.

“We will build ourselves back better together with the people who have been our bedrock of strength and of sustenance, even in the most challenging times,” he said.

“But the work to improve our agricultural sector and improve the plight of our farmers and fisherfolk has only just begun. We need to continue to open more opportunities to improve their well-being,” the President said.

The Agrilink, Foodlink, Aqualink 2022, held at the World Trade Center, is the country’s premier international trade exhibition in agriculture, food, and aquaculture.

“The strengthening of all our services that we give to our people in terms of food production, in terms of food supply, and our efforts to keep all our food products, all our agricultural commodities at a price that ordinary citizens can afford,” the President continued.

“Occasions such as this are just the highly appropriate times for which we can remind ourselves that what we are doing is not only growing crops, not only expanding fisheries, not only helping our livestock growers but what we are doing is feeding a nation.”

MACEDA NAMED COMELEC COMMISSIONER

President Marcos Jr. has named Ernesto Maceda Jr. as commissioner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The son of the late Senate president Ernesto Maceda will replace commissioner George Garcia whose appointment as Comelec chairman has been approved by the Commission on Appointments.

Maceda's appointment paper was signed by the President on Monday, October 3.

Before his appointment, Maceda was a lecturer at the Ateneo Law School and Master of Laws thesis professor at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Meanwhile, the President reappointed Nelson Celis as commissioner of the poll body.

Celis will continue the unexpired term of former commissioner Aimee Torrefranca-Neri, whose appointment was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments in June.

Maceda and Celis will serve for a term expiring on Feb. 2, 2029.

PLDT ASKS DITO TO PAY OVER P429 MILLION IN CONTRACTED SERVICES

MANILA - PLDT Inc on Friday said it has served a Notice of Material Breach and Demand for Payment on DITO Telecommunity for some contracted services delivered which the third telco refused to pay.

The demand for payment was for over P429 million, PLDT told the stock exchange.

"PLDT served today a Notice of Material Breach and Demand for Payment on DITO as a result of its refusal to pay the amount of Php 429,726,315.79 for contracted services," it said.

PLDT Inc said it has "fully performed and delivered relating to the building and provisioning of transmission facilities that DITO required and is using for the delivery of telecommunication services to subscribers."

ABS-CBN News has reached out to DITO for comments.

THE REST

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FILIPINOS UNHAPPY WITH MARCOS' HANDLING OF INFLATION PROBLEM — SURVEY

MANILA — Majority of Filipinos are unhappy with how President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is handling the country’s inflation woes, a problem that could shake his administration’s popularity if left uncontrolled.

A nationwide survey of 1,200 adults from September 17 to 21 showed 42% of respondents believe Marcos is doing a bad job in controlling inflation, while 31% said they were satisfied with the government’s actions to tame rising prices, polling firm Pulse Asia reported Thursday.

That yielded a net approval rating — or the difference between the approval and disapproval scores — of -11%, the only area where Marcos received a negative performance rating.

He got positive net scores in other areas, receiving the highest ratings in responding to the needs of areas affected by calamities (+75%) and controlling the spread of COVID-19 (+74).

Interestingly, the president also netted positive performance ratings in creating more jobs (+47%), boosting wages (+46%) and reducing poverty (+13%) despite public dissatisfaction with his management of the inflation problem.

But the rapid price increases remain a sore point for the new administration.

Results of the September survey showed 66% of respondents ranked inflation as the top national concern that Marcos should tackle first, trumping other problems with corruption, law enforcement and pandemic response.

That reading was 9 percentage points higher than 57% who gave the same response back in the June round of the opinion survey. Pulse Asia explained this means public concern on inflation has become “more pronounced”.

JUXTAPOSED: ONION, GARLIC PRICES IN PHILIPPINES VS THAILAND

Garlic and onions cost several folds higher in the Philippines compared to Thailand, former Sen. Kiko Pangilinan noted during his Bangkok trip last September.

In a tweet, Pangilinan shared that the price of garlic in Thailand is 50 baht (P 78.81) per kilo.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, a kilo of local garlic costs P350, based on the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) price monitoring.

On the other hand, Thailand’s onion costs 35 baht (P55.05) per kilo. In the country, this is priced at  P200 based on the same DA report.

Among 89 countries, the Philippines has the highest cost of onion, based on the June 2022 report of the Global Product Prices.

In September, the country’s annual inflation quickened to 6.9% from 6.3% in August, reflecting higher food prices, the statistics agency said.

Agriculture fund

The former senate committee chairman for agriculture, food, and agrarian reform also noted that the budget of the Thailand government is twice higher compared to the Philippine budget.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s agriculture budget is three-fold of the country’s allocation, Pangilinan added.

For 2023, the budget for the DA, Department of Agrarian Reform, and the National Irrigation Authority amounted to P184 billion.

This is a 39.2% increase in the agricultural sector’s budget, but this is still not enough, according to Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas Chairman Emeritus Rafael Mariano.

“While this amount increased, it is still far from what is needed to truly develop the state of Philippine agriculture and the sectors depending on it,” Mariano said in a statement.

“There is money for agriculture, but this does not reach the farmers. [The] Agriculture budget must trickle down to farmers and food producers,” Mariano was quoted in a Bulatlat report.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

WHY RICCI RIVERO MADE RELATIONSHIP WITH ANDREA BRILLANTES PUBLIC

Ricci Rivero’s basketball career and his romantic relationship with Andrea Brillantes have always been of keen interest for his fans and the media. And why not, when the goings-on in his career and love life both never fail to arouse fandom’s curiosity.

During our one-on-one for Batalk Channel’s The Interviewer Presents on YouTube, Ricci certainly made Andrea jump for joy by admitting that he sees the young actress as “the one” for him.

He then shared that it took months of planning before he could finally pull off his surprise girlfriend-proposal to Andrea, who is also being fondly called by her nickname Blythe.

“Para siyang baril, naka-kasa siya pero nakatago. Anytime pwede kong gawin pero hindi ko alam kung kaya ko siyang gawin. Hindi kasi ako ganon and first time ko mag-girlfriend in public,” he said.

Ricci put through the surprise proposal with brothers and friends as “accomplices.” They were holding the two T-shirts — with “YES” printed on one shirt and “NO” on the other — while Ricci was professing his love to Blythe which took place after a UAAP game last April 9. “At first, I thought it would be a failure because I wasn’t seeing the shirt with a ‘NO’ (print) while I was talking. Buti na lang umabot kasi nakakahiya naman kung ‘YES’ lang na shirt ang meron,” he amusingly recalled.

He revealed that it was his first time to make his love life public. “First time ko lang din mag-girlfriend in public,” he declared. “Siguro sa akin, ‘yung gusto ko lang din mapa-feel dun sa tao na proud ka.”

Ricci admitted to having mixed emotions at the time. “The nervousness and excitement were overwhelming but what prevailed was my will to do it (proposal) no matter what.”

Ricci said he met Blythe through a common friend, and they were talking for months before they ended up in each other’s arms.

“Sometimes, you just feel that you like the person, but it’s a different feeling when you know that you are sure. Iba lang siguro talaga yung na-feel namin,” said Ricci, who also mentioned about wanting “a happy and stable family” in his long-term goals.

I asked him if Andrea is the one, Ricci responded loud and clear, “I think, Tito Boy, yes.”

In the coming days, the two will have to endure a long-distance relationship (LDR) with Ricci set to leave the country for Taiwan. He will be taking his basketball talent abroad after he agreed to play for Taoyuan Pilots of P. League+, the men’s professional basketball league of Taiwan.

According to him, he decided to play for the Taoyuan Pilots because they never gave up on him and patiently waited for him to finish his final year with the UP Fighting Maroons which emerged champion in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball. Ricci added that he has already been approached by the team even prior to his transfer to UP.

“For me, it’s really God’s perfect timing. It’s in His plans, perhaps, because even before the UAAP, the Taiwan team already approached me. At that time, I did not know whether I would stay or leave because nothing’s sure after college basketball.”

Eventually, Ricci decided to stay with UP. His decision to commit to play for the Taiwan team came after his stint with the Fighting Maroons ended.

“After winning the championship, doon lang ulit nila nasabi na itong Taiwan nangungumusta ulit. Napag-hintay ko sila for a while at nag-hintay sila. Perhaps, it’s really God’s plan also for me to feel those things na, ‘Okay, I feel like playing in Taiwan.’ This team really wants me I guess at ako ibibigay ko rin ‘yung commitment na deserve nila.”

For a non-basketball person like me, I asked Ricci to make me understand why players his age are accepting offers from different countries and he said, “I won’t really say that there’s something bad here in the Philippines but maybe it’s just the opportunity. Kasi you can always go back to your roots.

“Here (Philippines), people know you. Alam nila how you play, who you are basically because you grew up na nandyan sila, nakikita ka nila — the scouts and all the coaches. But having that kind of opportunity to represent your country and yourself to grow siguro as a person din, nakakatuwa lang din.”

Although he admitted to having a better pay, Ricci hopes to survive living alone in Taiwan until the end of the basketball season.

I’m pretty sure he has already figured out how to deal with his longing to see his family and his lady love.

INDICATORS

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It is the besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which the masses of men exhibit their tyranny. - James F Cooper