Filipinos today face three grim possibilities: (1) To remain under a president whose administration is crippled by ineptitude and corruption and wait for his term to end; (2) To accept a vice president whose record points to impulsiveness and volatility; and (3) To gamble on a revolutionary government that would sweep aside the country’s democratic framework. None of these inspires confidence.
MARCOS: A SQUANDERED MANDATE
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. entered office with the strongest electoral mandate since 1987. That opportunity has now been squandered. The flood control scandal, the largest corruption case in Philippine history, laid bare how billions of kickbacks were siphoned through ghost and substandard projects, with congressional operators taking the reins. The President’s passivity has only deepened disillusion and fueled mounting calls for his resignation.
SARA: THE UNCERTAIN ALTERNATIVE
Vice President Sara Duterte, however, offers no clear alternative. She has remained conspicuously silent on her program of government and on urgent issues such as the West Philippine Sea. This silence, paired with a history of erratic and impulsive behavior, unsettles even her allies. If Marcos represents drift, Duterte embodies volatility.
THE REVOLUTIONARY SHORTCUT
Out of frustration, some now whisper of a revolutionary government. The appeal is easy to grasp: sweep away dynasties, silence a paralyzed Congress, and impose reforms swiftly with military backing. Yet history warns against such shortcuts. Marcos Sr.’s martial law promised order but delivered cronyism, repression, and debt. Once the military is drawn into governance, it seldom retreats.
THE DEEPER CRISIS
The crisis runs deeper than personalities. A politics dominated by dynasties and slogans has left voters with false choices: corruption under weak leadership, volatility under impulsive leadership, or authoritarianism disguised as reform. None meets the nation’s urgent need for competence, integrity, and national purpose.
QUO VADIS
A Marcos resignation without systemic reform merely shifts dysfunction. A Duterte succession without clarity risks instability. A revolutionary government endangers democracy itself.
Until Filipinos demand more, the nation will remain trapped between drift, danger, and dictatorship.
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