Three BBM gains in 30 months

After 30 months as president, Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. has scored three remarkable achievements:

- TONY LOPEZ

One, he consolidated power and strengthened his political base by cutting down to size the biggest challenge to his presidency, the Dutertes; demolishing the biggest source of graft and organized crime, the Philippine online gaming operation or POGO and setting the stage for the largest winner-take-all mid-year election ever, which his Ang Bagong Pilipinas coalition is expected to dominate.

Preparing for this electoral Armageddon, BBM has harnessed the best resource a president has at his command – the budget, which is the largest ever, in total amount, P6.352 trillion; in allocation to public works, P1.033 trillion, and in money to be dispensed by politicians to the poor (AKAP, Ayuda sa Kapos Ang Kita Program, from zero as legislated by the bicam to suddenly, P26 billion under the DSWD; and P44.74 billion for Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation).

Two, putting the economy on an even keel (5.9 percent growth in 2024, second best in ASEAN), with a focus on ensuring adequate food supply, deft management of inflation and creating an environment where Big Business has become a strong partner of government to achieve inclusive growth and bring poverty down to single digit by the end of his presidency.

Three, fortifying the needed regional political and security alliances in the Indo-Pacific amid intensifying geopolitical tension and a more assertive China determined to challenge the world's only superpower today.

During an election, so many voters feel an economic crisis. They go to the politicians who give them money and who the voters embrace warmly. "Bait mo, sir." A moving experience.