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BBM's dream world

The Philippine Star

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November 10, 2025

Emperors and presidents fall for it. Hans Christian Andersen wrote a children's tale about it, The Emperor's New Clothes. We all know how that ends.

- BOO CHANCO

BBM or Trump live in their own dream world detached from the realities of life that the people they lead live. Their detachment is aggravated by a cordon sanitaire of aides who isolate them from bad news.

It should be impossible to be so cocooned from reality in today's social media age. Trump even has his own social media company that allows him to go straight to the people, bypassing the gatekeeping mass media. But he only chooses to believe what he wants to believe.

With BBM, he might have acquired this detachment from reality from his "rich kid" upbringing. He is also getting bad advice from butt-sucking advisers on what to publicly believe. If this goes on, it will be his end sooner than it should be.

How can BBM say with a straight face that business or investor confidence in the Philippine economy has been "restored?" In his dreams, right? But that's what he said in a press conference in South Korea. That reduces whatever credibility he has left.

"If we had not exposed it, then they would be saying that there's a problem. Now that we have exposed it, their confidence is stronger in the Philippines. The level of confidence in the Philippine economy ... is restored," BBM claimed in a press conference in Gyeongju, South Korea.

But publicly claiming exposing corruption and doing some concrete actions to make the corrupt accountable are two different things.

It is delusional for BBM to believe he has done his job by "exposing" the DPWH ghost projects. Hay naku! BBM should realize his work has just started.

All BBM has done so far is change the DPWH Secretary and appoint an investigative commission. That's hardly enough for investors to think that the government is serious about reform.

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