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'Missed opportunity, mediocre': Analysts on Marcos Jr.'s first year

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. graces the 160th Anniversary of the Philippine Forestry Service on June 26, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/07/01/20230626-marcos-ph-environment-month-jc0768.jpg"/><figcaption>President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. graces the 160th Anniversary of the Philippine Forestry Service on June 26, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.&#x27;s first year in office was filled with missed opportunities and could be considered &quot;mediocre,&quot; analysts said, with some noting that Congress was plagued by distractions during his administration.Marcos Jr. should focus first on solving the immediate problems of ordinary Filipinos such as hunger and high prices of food, said Dennis Coronacion, the outgoing president of the Philippine Political Science Association. The analyst described Marcos Jr&#x27;s first year in office as &quot;mediocre&quot;, as the first year of his administration should have shown what his plans are for the next 5 or 6 years.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/16/22/marcos-approves-2023-2028-ph-development-plan">Marcos approves 2023-2028 PH development plan</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/12/23/marcos-ph-to-never-be-subservient-again-to-external-forces">Marcos: Philippines never again to be subservient to any external force</a></li></ul>&quot;What I meant by a mediocre performance by the President, it&#x27;s that until now wala tayong makita o marinig sa kanyang administrasyon na isang blueprint kung paano patatakbuhin at sosolusyonan ang problema sa bansa,&quot; Coronacion told ABS-CBN News in an interview. &quot;Yun bang pagiging vigilant, yun bang parating nag-iisip paano makakuha ng agarang solusyon at permanenteng solusyon sa pang araw-araw na problema sa Pilipino,&quot; he added.Akbayan President Rafaela David described Marcos Jr.&#x27;s first year as a &quot;missed opportunity&quot; considering his large mandate. She also lamented the appointment of controversial personality Larry Gadon as <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/26/23/larry-gadon-is-marcos-adviser-on-poverty-alleviation">anti-poverty czar</a>, as this reeks of patronage politics, saying poverty is still one of the biggest issues in the Philippines.&quot;Nasayang yung unang taon considering na napakalaki ng political capital na ibinigay ng mga mamamayan sa presidente. Parang kakaunti lang ang nagawa at kakaunti lang ang nakinabang,&quot; David said in a recent interview. &quot;We hope the administration does not waste its political capital on policies na hindi naman talaga makakatulong sa mamamayan. Alam natin matindi ang kinakaharap natin sa inflation, mataas ng presyo ng basic goods,&quot; she added. <div>CONGRESS HOUNDED BY DISTRACTIONS</div>Meanwhile, political analysts said Congress has been plagued by &quot;intramurals&quot; and politicking which was why only <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/01/23/6-out-of-42-priorities-finished-congress-leaders-tout-approvals">6 out of 42 priority bills</a> were passed during the first year of the Marcos administration.Progress on Marcos Jr.&#x27;s legislative agenda can be considered slow given that he has a huge political capital in Congress, said Aries Arugay, chairperson of the UP Diliman&#x27;s Political Science department. <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2623697" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>&quot;Kung talagang may unity na sinasabi, there should be unity in politics but also in policy-making,&quot; Arugay told ABS-CBN News. &quot;This is not a good score card for his administration and Congress because it means that supposedly at the surface level he has a supermajority, but there is no political [capital],&quot; he added.Among the measures approved by Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council headed by Marcos Jr. include the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/10/22/marcos-approves-sim-registration-law">SIM Registration Act</a>, the Act Postponing the Barangay Elections, and the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/18/23/marcos-approves-law-amending-afp-fixed-term">AFP Fixed Term Law</a>. House and Senate leaders said 3 measures still need Marcos Jr.&#x27;s signature. These are the Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interests of Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, the Regional Specialty Centers Act, and the creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund.&quot;Needless to say, our first regular session has been both eventful and productive,&quot; House Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier said.Political analyst Edmund Tayao, however, said the public should not focus on the number of bills passed, but on how these and current laws are being implemented. &quot;I would not really measure performance in terms of numbers of bills passed. To be honest... andami nating batas. Ang problema natin yung enforcement,&quot; said Tayao. &quot;If we are going to measure governance only in the number of laws passed, perhaps, we might want to review if the government is able to implement so many of the already existing laws,&quot; he added. The analyst cited how government streamlining has been implemented by the Marcos administration, and how specific government agencies enforced new policies. Some of the passed laws, he added, could complicate a number of existing problems faced by the public. &quot;If I may emphasize, it is not in the number of laws.&quot;<div>DISRUPTIONS?</div>For Maria Fe Mendoza, a professor and former dean at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance, the pacing of Congress was not slow but the disruptions were &quot;abnormal.&quot; &quot;Parang normal lang (pacing). Kasi, talagang mahirap ipasa ang bill into a law. Kasi noon, may pag-aaral kami, kung hindi siya priority, 11 years. Bale more than 3 Congresses,&quot; Mendoza said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.The analyst noted how Romualdez was almost always with Marcos Jr. during events and his travels abroad, along with former Senior Deputy Speaker and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Arroyo was eventually <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/17/23/house-replaces-arroyo-as-senior-deputy-speaker">demoted</a> as deputy speaker, after allegations that she wanted to replace Romualdez as House Speaker. She had denied this.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/19/23/arroyo-denies-coup-plot-against-romualdez">Arroyo denies &#x27;coup&#x27; plot against Romualdez after demotion</a></li></ul>&quot;Parang ang ano doon, instead of doing the legislation, ganyan ganyan, ang daming intramurals. Hindi masyado natutukan,&quot; she said. Mendoza recognized how the country was still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and lawmakers were just picking up their momentum. She also noted how Philippines was also hounded by issues on agriculture and inflation during Marcos Jr.&#x27;s first year in office. &quot;Supermajority talaga kaso yun nga, ang supermajority were concerned with so many things. Katulad ng sa Congress, ang daming mga issues tulad ng kay Degamo and Teves,&quot; she said. &quot;Tapos yung mga... proposal... for Constitutional Change. Parang ay, wala naman yun, then the Maharlika Fund. Ang daming mga ganap sa Congress despite the supermajority,&quot; she added.The causes of inflation — mainly onion, sugar, and rice — would have been immediately addressed, she said, if a permanent agriculture secretary was appointed. Marcos still heads the agency one year into office. For Arugay, it is unusual that a Philippine leader would hold a portfolio for so long. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo headed the defense department from August 29, 2003 to October 2, 2003 and from November 30, 2006 to February 1, 2007. She held the defense portfolio for two months from December 2006 until February 2007 after former defense chief Avelino Cruz Jr. stepped down from his post.Former President Joseph &quot;Erap&quot; Estrada was also the concurrent interior secretary for 9 months or from July 1, 1998 to April 12, 1999 to <a href="https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1999/07jul/1999-SONA-TECHNICAL-REPORT-JEE.pdf">fight organized crimes</a> in the Philippines and have a direct control over the national police.&quot;Finally, what I want to say, is all of these politicking is distracting people for the utter lack of achievement of Congress in realizing the President&#x27;s legislative agenda,&quot; Arugay said. &quot;Not only are they not only able to pass the legislative agenda of the executive but they occupy most of their time in power grabs and politicking,&quot; he added. Coronacion said the public should give Marcos Jr. a chance, considering that he still has 5 years into his administration. What he needs to solve right now, he reiterated, are urgent matters concerning poor Filipinos who are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.&quot;Masyado pang maaga para mawalan tayo ng pag-asa patungkol sa klase ng pamamahala niya, patungkol sa klase ng liderato niya. The President needs to change his leadership style,&quot; the political analyst said. &quot;Karamihan ay nararanasan pa rin ang mga problema na naidulot nang mag-umpisa ang pandemya so start with the basic, yun ang nais ko sanang gawin ng ating pangulo and then dagdagan niya ng sense of urgency,&quot; he said.

'Missed opportunity, mediocre': Analysts on Marcos Jr.'s first year

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'Missed opportunity, mediocre': Analysts on Marcos Jr.'s first year

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 01, 2023 09:15 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 01, 2023 09:46 PM PHT

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Congress

priority bills

Congress distracted

Maria Fe Mendoza

Marcos Jr presidency

how many priority bills passed

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