“With Mike Toledo as press secretary, media will credit BBM for appointing one of media’s competent, credible and well-respected press secretary.”
Reports have it that three names are being considered as the next Press Secretary.
Without belittling the credentials and qualifications of the other names being mentioned, as a journalist of over 75 years, I believe President Marcos Jr. will have to choose the best, namely former Press Secretary Mike Toledo, who is now senior Vice President of the Manuel V. Pangilinan Group of Companies.
I know quite well the credentials of Toledo as the press secretary of then President Joseph “Erap” Estrada.
Mike is a well-respected member of the media and friend to all being also the press relations official of the MVP Group of Companies, and now the chairman of the Chamber of Mines.
BBM should be made aware that a Press Secretary who works for the President must have respectability and credibility, which are essential for the post.
I said in my past column that the President so far had chosen the best and the brightest to be members of his Cabinet.
With Mike Toledo as press secretary, I say that if BBM must be credited for anything during his first 100 days, it’s the fact that his Cabinet is so far, so good.
With Mike Toledo as press secretary, media will credit BBM for appointing one of media’s competent, credible, and well-respected press secretary.
The findings of poll surveyors Pulse Asia and PUBLiCUS Asia that inflation and high prices remain the most concern of the majority of Filipinos – precisely the main target of BBM in his administration.
Next to high prices, which are driving and boosting inflation, is the need for higher wages of all workers, government, and the private sector.
Pulse Asia in fact found that 7 out of 10 Filipinos are worried about high prices and inflation which contribute to higher prices of all basic commodities, and the need, my gulay, to increase wages of all workers follows.
And that’s precisely what the Marcos administration is targeting.
Poverty and job creation follow these concerns in the poll survey.
Crime and criminality were likewise mentioned as the most concern of Filipinos, and the need to address graft and corruption follows.
Crime and criminality as well as better law enforcement are also on the agenda of the Marcos administration.
According to the PUBLiCUS Asia Survey, “ ….Vice President Sara Duterte is the most trusted government official with a 66 percent approval rating followed by Marcos who garnered 62 percent; Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri in third with 50 percent; followed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez with 46 percent and Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo with 41 percent.
They had the same rankings in the trust ratings with Duterte getting 62 percent, Marcos 58 percent, Zubiri 41 percent, Romualdez 39 percent, and Gesmundo 35 percent.”
What I find interesting in these poll surveys is PUBLiCUS’ finding the Marcos administration is precisely in the right direction with 51 percent of the citizenry hopeful.
It is noteworthy the Marcos administration is on the “right path.”
It is well that critics of President Marcos Jr. and his administration were heard criticizing Bongbong Marcos’ on what he does and says.
That’s the core of democracy under which we live. There must be assent and dissent, otherwise it will be tyranny.
But, Santa Banana, when critics nitpick every word uttered by the President or in his policy speeches, we immediately know that some critics have little knowledge of BBM.
Take for instance his weekend trip, with the First Lady and their son, a member of the House of Representatives, to Singapore, upon invitation of the Singapore Prime Minister, to watch the F1 Grand Prix.
When newly-appointed Executive Secretary and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, replying to questions, said BBM and his family rode a Gulf-stream jet plane of the armed forces, and critics’ chasers – on who spent for the weekend stay of the First family and the tickets, costing a million pesos for the F1 Grand Prix—were “irrelevant.”
Indeed, they are truly irrelevant since the President can always ride on that Gulf-stream jet plane together with his family as AFP Commander-in-Chief, upon invitation of the Singapore Prime Minister.
Bongbong was not the only Chief of State who was invited, an invitation which BBM took advantage of if only to follow through with his invitation for Singapore investors to come to the Philippines, which obviously prompted the President to say the weekend’s Singapore trip was productive.
Personally, as a journalist for over 75 years, I believe in dissent in a democracy.
For it’s dissent that makes a democracy vibrant and alive. Without dissent, there can only be tyranny.
But, if the opposition and critics of the Marcos Administration nitpick and make an issue of “irrelevant” things, I can only conclude that the “yellows” and critics of the Marcos administration, my gulay, have become mere noises and trying very hard to get noticed.
In the vernacular, it is called “kulang sa pansin.”
If the Marcos administration is truly intent on “rightsizing” the bureaucracy to generate some funds, it would do well to begin with the MTRCB or the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, whose function is to rate what kind of movies and television programs the public can watch or should not watch.
The MTRCB was created by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos, BBM’s father when communication technology was not as it is today.
Now, with a flick of finger you can access any movie or television show worldwide. That was the time many decades ago when there was a need for censorship.
Now, as I said, with a flick of a finger, you can watch a movie shown by any network like HBO, Netflix or any kind of network, which shows nudity, sex films, violence, and even x-rated movies.
I have a smart tv with Netflix, with movies beyond the watchful eyes of MTRCB. censors.
The well-known Game of Thrones, shown on HBO, had full nudity and sex scenes. Santa Banana, how could the MTRCB censor it? No way, Jose, as they say.
Thus it would do well for the Marcos administration to abolish the MTRCB since it is totally useless and irrelevant. It serves only as a humping ground for political proteges. Nowhere in the world are movies and television shows censored and rated as they are in the Philippines.
My gulay, did you know that the MTRCB is composed of 30 members getting paid for nothing since censorship is a thing of the past?
My gulay, it is really hilarious that the MTRCB even classifies news programs as PG (Parent Guidance is needed) when everyday news is essential for everybody in the country with the Right to Know.
My gulay, on this alone, abolish the MTRCB for being totally irrelevant and outdated.
I cannot understand why the Marcos administration is hesitating to create a Department of Disaster Resilience with many disasters and calamities already happening like earthquakes, super-typhoons, landslides and floods, devastation to agriculture, infrastructure, livelihood and resulting in the loss of lives, when the Marcos administration easily created the DMW or Department of Migrant Workers for the benefit of millions of OFWs worldwide.
A study has shown that the Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
This is why we urgently need a department like the DDR, precisely to attend to all the disasters and calamities.
Lest I be misunderstood, yes, we need the Department of Migrant Workers for the benefit of millions of OFWs who have been called “our new heroes.”
All I am saying is that I cannot understand all the hesitancy in enacting that bill, long pending in the Senate. that would create the DDR which is crucial and imperative for a country like the Philippines.
I also commend Senator Bong Go for pushing for the enactment of the long pending bill in the Senate creating the DDR.