The year 2022 marked the return of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to Malacañang after Rodrigo Duterte turned over the presidency to the former after his landslide victory in the May 2022 polls.
Duterte spent his last six months in Malacañang managing the government's pandemic response as the country slowly recovered from the effects of the still ongoing health crisis.
The former president knew that the year 2022 would mean that his time in Malacañang would soon end. He then thanked Filipinos for supporting him over the past six years.
Duterte did not reveal who he voted for in the elections but said all of them were qualified to be his successor. Instead, he appealed to the would-be president to continue his drug war.
In May 2022, the public named Marcos as the 17th Philippine president. A month later, Malacañang would welcome its new occupant.
Marcos is not a stranger to Malacañang as his infamous namesake father held the presidency for the longest time in the country's history.
And as the Palace's new occupant, President Marcos opened Malacañang to the public on December 18 to 24 for the Simbang Gabi.
Open engagements
Marcos' return brought back face-to-face press briefings with the Press Secretary in Malacañang's New Executive Building for the first five months and now in the First Residences beginning in December.
Unlike his predecessor, President Marcos did not have late-night engagements. Duterte had the Talk to the People program to update the public on the government's initiatives. Meanwhile, Marcos has his engagements during the day and uses his YouTube channel for updates.
Marcos' presidency marked the return of overseas trips-- engagements that were canceled since 2020 due to the pandemic. This year, the President made state visits to Indonesia and Singapore in September.
He went to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September. In November, he went to Cambodia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
This month, Marcos flew to Belgium for the European Union-ASEAN Business Summit.
Malacañang also opened the presidential plane to members of the media covering Marcos' trips abroad. This started in November and weeks after he vowed to remain open with the press.
According to the Office of the Press Secretary, Marcos' first five foreign trips yielded $23.6 billion in investment pledges.
Laws signed
In his first six months, Marcos signed into law the SIM Registration Act to fight scams. He also approved the law postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections to next year.
This month, the President signed the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the first full-year budget under his administration. The National Budget worth P5.268 trillion is 4.9 percent higher than the budget for 2022.
Aside from these laws, Marcos signed administrative orders that granted service recognition incentives, rice allowances, and gratuity pay to government employees.
Appointments
President Marcos has yet to finalize his Cabinet as numerous changes occurred this year.
Marcos has yet to name secretaries for the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of National Defense (DND). Meanwhile, he supervises the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The President still needs to appoint a new press secretary following the resignation of lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles supposedly due to health reasons. Former journalist Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil is currently an undersecretary and the officer-in-charge of the Office of the Press Secretary. This week, he named former journalist Daphne Oseña-Paez as the new "press briefer."
In addition, Marcos also had to let go of his long-time supporter Vic Rodriguez after the latter resigned as the executive secretary. He replaced him with former Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin.