By Artchil B. Fernandez
Ferdinand “Magellan” Jr. is the new moniker of vlogger Bongbong Marcos (BBM). Magellan if one recalls history is the Portuguese explorer who led the first known voyage to circumnavigate the globe. Unfortunately, Magellan did not complete the expedition meeting his end in the Philippines.
BBM earned his new “title” for his fondness to travel abroad. He is only seven months in office but has already made eight trips outside the country. One of his controversial travels was when he secretly slipped out of the country to watch the elite car racing Formula 1 Grand Prix in Singapore in the first few weeks of his presidency.
Constant travel abroad of BBM refreshed the memory of the globe-trotting hobby of his mother Imelda Marcos, the other half of the Conjugal Dictatorship. The then First Lady acted as ambassador-at-large for her dictator husband. She met foreign leaders and signed agreements on behalf of the Marcos dictatorship.
The nasty habit of Imelda Marcos has rubbed off on her son. It is only the middle of January, but BBM has already made two trips abroad. These trips are all paid by the taxpayers, the Filipino people.
Incessant travels abroad of BBM are defended by his administration as necessary to “promote and reintroduce the Philippines.” The justification is a dig to his predecessor who badly tarnished the image of the country with his crassness attack on foreign leaders and the United Nations and its agencies for being critical of his administration’s bloody and gory war against illegal drugs.
These trips abroad are necessary BBM apologists claim to attract foreign investments. They reported the trips of BBM had generated US$46.4 billion in investment pledges. However, it is worth noting that these are pledges and not actual investments. It remains to be seen if these pledges will become a reality.
Chinese promise is an example of how these pledges are paper investments. When Du30 pivoted to China, he hoped to get a huge chunk of Chinese foreign investment. China in turn pledged US$24 billion investments none of which materialized. Chinese funding of Du30’s legacy project in Mindanao – an island-wide railway was aborted with China backing out. It is evident China used the color of its money to lure the naïve Du30 but never intended to deliver on its promise.
In the visit of BBM to China early this month, a US$22 billion investment pledge was made. It is likely the pledge was merely a reiteration of the promise China gave to Du30. China is like the “Greeks bearing gifts” that the country must beware. Its pledges are not only hollow but a tool of deception, pure racketeering.
This week, BBM left for World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. He said he is scouring for more investments to the country. But it is not foreign trips of leaders or advertisements that attract investments to a country. Reputable leaders, good governance, reliable and stable policies, superb infrastructure, and political stability are among the factors that draw investors to a country.
No amount of foreign travels will bring investments in a country if the leadership is ill-repute. BBM winning the presidency did not erase although they are trying hard, the wicked reputation of the Marcoses. Though many Filipinos have ignored the facts, the world had not forgotten the US$10 billion stolen by the Marcoses from the Filipino people. BBM and his family remains a suspect in the eyes of the world, and this is the reason investors are hesitant to come to the Philippines. A country led by a family found guilty of stealing enormous public fund is a huge turn-off to investors.
Meanwhile, as BBM hopped from one continent to another, the country burns. Inflation continues to rise, reaching 8.1 percent last month. Filipinos are currently groaning under high prices of goods and services while the leader of the country is having fun chasing his illusions abroad.
Nothing illustrates the agony of Filipinos due to high inflation than the case of onions, a basic ingredient in Filipino cooking. A kilo of onion lately costs 700 pesos, the most expensive in the world. The supreme irony of the situation is while Filipino consumers are deeply hurt by the high price of onions, Filipino farmers planting onions are suffering from heavy losses due to low farm-gate price of onions at 200 pesos per kilo.
The anomalous situation is attributed to the deluge of smuggled onions in the market and the cartel of unscrupulous traders who insured that locally produced onions do not reach the market to jack up the prices to astronomical level. Adding to the woes of onion farmers recent Senate hearing revealed are the following factors: “the economic toll of the pandemic, the lack of facilities to store their produce, the difficulty of bringing them out to the market, and the competition from smuggled good soon to be compounded by fresh imports.”
So far, the government, particularly the Department of Agriculture (DA), has done nothing to alleviate the situation of Filipino consumers and farmers. The head of DA is none other than the vlogging and jet-setting BBM. It is bad enough that BBM’s promise of bringing the price of rice, the staple Filipino food to 20 pesos per kilo has evaporated. He is also helpless in dealing with cartels and unscrupulous people manipulating the market to drive prices of onions and other basic commodities. It is clear BBM is not only indecisive but is disinterested in managing much more solving the economic crisis plaguing the country.
This is the price Filipinos are paying for electing a party-loving, travel-craze but lazy and inept Ferdinand “Magellan” Jr.
