Addicted to chaos

It's now an all-hell-breaks-loose situation, as the country's two highest officials are caught in an ugly feud that grows uglier by the day.

- IRIS GONZALES

Welcome to Manila. Welcome to mayhem.

Why is it that throughout history, our leaders, it seems, are so addicted to chaos and everything that comes with it—the high-stakes game for power and more power, the adrenaline rush, the media spotlight, the messianic delusions and the satisfaction of feeding one's already bloated ego?

But at the rate they're unraveling, the Dutertes seem most addicted to chaos—invectives, toxicity and killings. What is it in Davao's air? I can't help but wonder.

Unfortunately, with this ongoing family feud, the warring political clans are dragging the whole country down with them, turning off investors.

Peso, stocks down

On Tuesday, as the Marcos administration responded to Sara Duterte's kill threat, the peso fell to P59 to the dollar, depreciating by one centavo from its P58.99 finish the day before. The peso returned to the P59 to $1 mark yesterday, shedding one centavo from its P58.99 to $1 finish on Monday.

Obviously, investors aren't happy with the ongoing political noise as this has only worsened the looming trade war between the US and China. The chaos also pulled down the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to 6,806.86 on Tuesday.

Sure, the markets are more concerned about Trump's announcement that he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on US imports from China and 25 percent on all imports from Mexico and Canada.