Not long ago, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ignited a firestorm with an impassioned “Mahiya naman kayo” SONA speech that targeted the corrupt underbelly of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Likely driven by a genuine resolve to purge systemic rot, Marcos could not have foreseen the blaze this would unleash — a scandal now threatening to consume his administration. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe has exposed a web of graft implicating allies, friends, and even kin, from senators like Francis Escudero to House Speaker Martin Romualdez. What began as a crusade for transparency has boomeranged into a crisis of credibility.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) plummeted below 6,000 points, closing at 5,953.46 on September 30, 2025, with a 0.74% daily drop and a persistent downward trend into October. This isn’t mere market volatility, it is investor confidence evaporating – a stark barometer of deepening political insecurity hobbling the nation.
Compounding this gloom is a troubling undercurrent of military unease. Credible rumors, swirling since the September 21 anti-corruption protests, point to discontent among retired Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers—ironically, the same cadre enriched by Rodrigo Duterte’s lavish pension hikes and perks. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a retired police chief, has voiced alarm over “rising anger” among retirees and active personnel, not out of loyalty to Duterte’s shadow but from revulsion at the DPWH’s plunder, which mocks their service. Whispers of a CIA-backed plot involving Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. were swiftly debunked by the AFP and Department of National Defense as “baseless digital smoke.” Yet, Marcos’s preemptive meeting with retired generals before the rallies betrays a fragility that we’ve seen before. These were not just idle murmurs, they are embers that could ignite without warning.
This moment demands neither deflection nor delay but a bold, unequivocal decision to redefine his legacy. The crossroads he faces permits no half-measures. He must own the corruption spreading out of control under his watch, and that he is ultimately accountable for its eradication. This requires more than press briefings or Ombudsman referrals—it calls for a sweeping reorganization, a surgical purge that embeds transparency as the bedrock of governance.
Envision a restructured administration that sidelines those implicated in the Blue Ribbon hearings and Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) probes, from DPWH underlings to allied lawmakers. Picture a National Integrity Commission, fusing civil society watchdogs with a reformed Commission on Audit (COA), empowered to enforce zero-tolerance across all government tiers. Imagine elevating anti-graft champions to key posts, backed by a blockchain-tracked procurement system for infrastructure contracts, ensuring every peso is traceable. Imagine tying foreign aid and investments to verifiable reforms, signaling to the world that the Philippines is open for clean business. Imagine a mandated asset disclosure policy for all officials, from barangay captains to Cabinet secretaries, to deter hidden wealth.
To quell military unrest, imagine this government accelerating pension reforms, addressing inequities without favoritism.
With his term winding toward 2028, Marcos must pivot to make anti-corruption the hallmark of his legacy—an exit strategy that transforms “Bagong Pilipinas” from slogan to reality. This isn’t mere crisis management, it’s a blueprint for departure that could redeem a presidency entangled in its own confusion.
How should he pivot at this point? Whoever the president listened to in the last four years clearly contributed to the rut the country is in right now. Whatever values and mindset he embraced in making his decisions brought him to where he is right now. He might want to look somewhere else for guidance, step out of his comfort zoneto and talk to people including those he might not be comfortable with.
