In the six months of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. in office, his administration has been embroiled in several controversies that drew public flak.
In this article, DZRH News Online will give a rundown on the top controversies that the Marcos administration faced this 2022.
Sugar importation fiasco
Two months after Marcos assumed the presidency, his administration faced the biggest controversy: the sugar importation fiasco.
The issue stemmed from the issuance of Sugar Order (SO) No. 4 which allows the importation of 300,000 MT of sugar into the country. The said order contained signatories of Marcos along with former agriculture secretary Leocadio Sebastian and three Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) board members.
But days after it was released to the public, the Malacañang announced that the document was “illegal” because the President did not authorize nor sign it.
Following this, Marcos gave authority to former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez to order the inspection of all the sugar warehouses to check if there were smuggled sugars causing the shortage of supply in the country.
After a series of inspections, the Palace concluded that the sugar shortage was only “artificial."
Meanwhile, the four officials involved in the SO4 eventually tendered their resignations and were called to attend the Senate blue ribbon committee’s probe.
Amid the investigation, Sebastian admitted that he signed the SO4 order on behalf of Marcos. But in his defense, Sebastian said he signed the document due to the diminishing supply of sugar in the country and he cannot stand "watching Filipinos suffer from high local prices of sugar."
The panel also found that former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez received the SO4 draft but ignored it due to the pending decision of the President.
After sequence of hearings, the blue ribbon cleared Rodriguez and recommended criminal and administrative charges against Sebastian and three SRA board members.
Intelligence and confidential funds
The confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) particularly of the Office of the President, Office of the Vice President, and the Department of Education in the 2023 national budget were one of the controversial topics this year.
The inclusion of CIFs in some government agencies' budgets is not new. In the previous administration, for instance, the office of former president Rodrigo Duterte requested an CIF of Php 4.635 billion.
But some lawmakers raised their eyebrows on the CIF of the OP, OVP, and DepEd this year due to the large amount they requested.
The OP requested Php 4.5 billion in CIF and the OVP requested Php 500 million. Meanwhile, DepEd, which is also under the leadership of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, requested Php 150 million.
During the budget deliberations in the House, Sara vowed that if lawmakers will give her department the funds, she would solve all the problems in basic education within six years.
The OP, OVP, and DepEd's budget including the CIF were then swiftly approved. Lawmakers of the Makabayan bloc were supposed to interpolate the OVP's Php 500 million in CIF but they were restricted from doing so.
In the Senate's deliberations, meanwhile, Minority leader Koko Pimentel strongly opposed the OVP, OP, and DepEd's CIF. He requested the deletion of these funds from the said offices and asked his fellow Senators to realign them to other agencies that needed more funding.
After several arguments, the Senate agreed to remove the CIF from the mentioned government agencies. But the Bicameral Committee of Congress then restored Php 150 million CIF of DepEd, citing that the fund would help save the future of learners.
Maharlika Investment fund
Following the flak over intelligence and confidential funds, House Bill 6398, or the Maharlika Investment Act seeking to create a sovereign wealth fund also became controversial.
The measure was filed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Among the co-authors of the Maharlika Investment Act are President’s son locos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander 'Sandro' Marcos and Romualdez’s wife Tingog Sinirangan party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez.
According to the proponents, the said fund will be utilized by the national government for investments, and the investment returns or the money that will be reaped will be allocated for government programs and projects such as dams, electric grids, and among others.
Several lawmakers including Senator Imee Marcos, economists, and progressive groups questioned the timing of the bill as many said that the country still has looming national debt, and there are other more important things that need to be prioritized by the government.
The bill was also criticized for proposing to use of the contributions of the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Insurance Security System (GSIS) for the said fund.
Also scrutinized in the measure is the designation of Marcos as the chairman and head of the board of directors of the Maharlika Investment Corporation, an independent body that will govern and manage the fund.
Following public criticism, Marcos was removed as MIC chairman and SSS and GISS were also removed as mandatory contributors.
But the flak did not falter the President. He certified the bill as urgent which allowed the lower house to pass it after the third reading.
With 275 affirmative votes, six negative votes, and zero abstention, HB 6398 was approved last Dec. 15.
Senate President Juan Miguel 'Migz' Zubiri meanwhile, vowed that Senate will carefully study the proposed measure.
Backlash on Marcos appointees
Two of the appointees of Marcos also became controversial in the second quarter of this year.
The appointment of retired Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Camilo Cascolan as the Department of Health (DOH) undersecretary was heavily criticized.
The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), in particular, strongly denounced his appointment, saying this was a “huge insult“, especially to health experts who are most qualified to lead the DOH. They claimed that they do not want to work with Cascolan who was one of the officials behind the ‘Oplan Tokhang’ or the bloody drug war campaign that killed thousands of victims during the Duterte administration.
Following this, the appointment of film director Paul Soriano as the presidential adviser on creative communications was also criticized.
Many raised the question of what would exactly Soriano do as the creative communication head.
It also became controversial when Marcos said Soriano would receive an annual salary grade of Php 1 for his service.
