By Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA)
Every September, we remember the proclamation of martial law in the Philippines by dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Aside from the gross human rights violations committed by the Marcos Sr. regime, the Marcoses used their dictatorial power to amass and take control of the nation’s wealth — ill-gotten riches acquired through government projects and concessions with their cronies.
Today, we are once again hounded by issues of corruption in flood control projects, ghost infrastructure, and a national budget peppered with items under confidential and intelligence funds — right at the very doors of the offices of the Vice President and the President. We are forced to dive into floods, while many are drowning in poverty, as a few flaunt a luxurious lifestyle funded by the people’s money.
“Nepotism” has become a buzzword again, with nepo babies bashed and mocked on social media and elsewhere.
We are reminded, however, that the nepo babies are not just the children of contractors and government agency officials. We know this all too well. We have long called the Marcoses and the Dutertes the original nepo babies. We are angry because the Marcoses and their children have not been made accountable for years of plunder and their “Imeldific” lifestyle. Now, the same lavish use of the people’s money—private helicopters to concerts, trips to Singapore to watch car races, birthdays with foreign talents as guests—has been documented in the first two years of Marcos Jr. in Malacañang.
This lifestyle is not confined to Marcos Jr. alone. The Dutertes’ children have been photographed wearing luxurious watches and designer bags, each with a price tag often greater than the annual salary of a low-level government employee or a minimum-wage earner.
All this flexing of wealth and luxury by those in power boils down to the perpetuation of a bureaucracy run like a business — allowing them to stay in power while remaining completely callous to the plight of the poor. For the martial law babies, this is bureaucrat capitalism. It remains so to this day. Bureaucrat capitalism is maintained and perpetuated most often by tyranny, silencing protests and dissent.
We join the people in expressing outrage at this latest exposé of corruption and plunder in the highest levels of government. We call on the people to turn this rage into action. It is September, and with the bitter memories of plunder and despotism, we once again reiterate the need to transform our anger into collective action.
As we say “never again” to nepotism, we also say “never again” to the Marcoses and Dutertes.
End corruption!
End bureaucrat capitalism!
End tyranny!