President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is the first to be elected with a majority vote under the present Constitution. He received a total of 31,629,783 votes, more than double that of his nearest rival. His mandate is clear and unmistakable. The Filipino people want him to lead the country from the doldrums of a debilitating pandemic to a future where their aspirations for a comfortable life shall be attained.
The challenges are formidable. The coronavirus pandemic pushed the economy into a steep recession that wiped out thousands of jobs across industries and raised the level of involuntary hunger among the poorest Filipino families. To meet the massive expenditures for vaccines, social amelioration and emergency health care facilities, the government’s borrowings raised the national debt level.
The continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict has triggered a continuing spiral in fuel prices. In a demonstration of strong political will, the new President has assumed the agriculture portfolio to ensure food security amid a looming world food crisis.
While he has asked that he be judged according to his actions and not his ancestry, it is well to invoke the memory of his father, Ferdinand Sr. whose first inauguration in 1965 he had witnessed as a seven year old toddler.
“This nation can be great again,” was the clarion call that tugged at the heartstrings of millions of Filipinos. That call resonated across the land as it stoked the hopes and aspirations of a proud people.
Nearly six decades hence, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s clear and consistent call for unity has been answered similarly by the sovereign people with a resounding vote of confidence.
Now the hard part begins.
Ensuring good governance requires competence, integrity and probity on the part of the executive appointees to the Cabinet and government agencies; the elected representatives in the House and the Senate; elected local government officials; and the judges and justices in the courts of the land. While the principles of check-and-balance are observed among the three co-equal branches, the people expect each and all of the three branches to demonstrate a high degree of accountability and responsiveness to their needs.
As the country eases into a transition phase that, hopefully, leads to a post-COVID era, the people expect their public officials to adopt a whole-of-nation, and whole-of-government approach, in responding to their needs. Far from being passive spectators, the citizens are poised to become more active participants in nation-building. Civic initiative could spur an entire expanse of community improvement projects.
A word must also be said about the need for restraint and exercising a higher level of tolerance in the public arena. Digital acceleration has greatly expanded the use of social media by the general public. Civility in public discourse could go a long way toward generating consensus on vital issues and expanding the common ground for national unity.
A united citizenry, animated by the spirit of bayanihan, would enable our new President to lead in the realization of our shared aspirations.
Godspeed and mabuhay, Mr. President!