THERE are apprehensions that the incoming President might be a clone of his father, the late former president Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr.
Of course, it is too early to say that, indeed President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos might go the elder's way -- his temperament, manner of deciding matters at hand and his relationship with the people.
What if the newbie prexy would turn out to be exactly the same as the elder Marcos -- a clone, an exact replica of the old one?
Remember that Marcos Jr. said he would continue Duterte's Build, Build, Build program and the war on illegal drugs. Would Marcos Jr. improve on the infrastructure setup or just let the structures thus far built go to waste? What if he will turn out to be the worst implementer of the war on illegal drugs and commit killings more than Duterte's?
We still want to be kind to the incoming President up to one hundred days into his administration. After that, we expect to witness good results, a far better improvement than the last, or else we will be rehashing the same mediocre performance of the predecessor.
Marcos Jr. should be his own man and not a clone of somebody else. He should rise on his own merit, do something far worthy than his predecessors!
He will inherit a huge public debt, lingering effects of the global pandemic, remnants of corruption in government offices, soaring prices of gasoline products and basic commodities and ever-growing unrest of daily wage earners and public utility vehicle drivers.
The task ahead is so daunting that Marcos Jr. and his best and the brightest cabinet and economic managers would need near superhuman efforts to resolve everything. I just hope they will not wilt under the tremendous pressure.
Marcos Jr. has taken the initiative of heading a government agency beset with operational problems like the Department of Agriculture, which has serious issues including the stiff cost of the country's staple, rice. With this initiative, therefore, it is expected that the cost of a kilo of rice will be pegged at a very affordable price.
In all, the outgoing administration of PRRD will pass the buck, problems and all, to the newbie administration of PBBM. That's understandable. Aruy!