IT’S just too bad the walls of Malacañang cannot talk because then the recent family picture of the Marcoses in Malacañang will succeed in delivering the message that Filipinos approve of them and that is why they are back in power in this country.
Whether or not a Marcos or a hired spin doctor thought this up, it is a brilliant public relations coup. The Igorot ritual to drive evil spirits out of Imee Marcos’s Senate office is not as brilliant but just as effective.
Having the picture taken in Malacañang is brilliant because its message is true. Enough Filipinos approve of their return to power even after what they have done to this country, which are to run its economy to the ground, ramp up the greed and corruption of high officials and stunt national development with a culture of dependence on political patrons.
But if the walls of Malacañang could talk, the family picture would be more of a mockery of the Filipino people. The walls are not seeing a family smiling at the camera. The walls see a family mocking at a nation gullible enough to support them in their bid to return to power in spite of what is written in the nation’s history.
And speaking of history, the family picture also carries the message that the Marcos family has successfully revised their late dictator father’s inglorious oppression of Filipinos into a President’s true service to the latter. This needs to endure by allowing his heirs to continue the father’s tradition of love of country.
If the walls could speak, the family picture would be a mocking indictment of the historical ignorance, religious hypocrisy, and moral bankruptcy of many Filipinos. At least of those who voted them back into power who seem to outnumber those who did not vote for a Marcos.
About the Igorot ritual, it was also a very smart move to send a message that she is driving out evil spirits from her office. She or her spin doctor is smart to pre-empt those of us who think that the ritual should have been to prevent an evil spirit from re-entering the premises of the Senate.
But this is a Catholic country where, with regular Church attendance and handsome donations to the Church, a plundering or womanizing public official can acquire a public image of moral uprightness. This is a Catholic country where prelates exorcise evil spirits only out of those who hurt or threaten to hurt their pockets and their positions of privilege.
I support most of Duterte’s strategic programs. But I definitely stop where his support of the unrepentant Marcos family begins because I can’t figure out where he is going with this. The Marcoses are laughing at the Filipino people for their dumbness in bringing them back into power.