MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s statement that his establishment of a functional government was his achievement in his first 100 days in office is below what the public was expecting of him, a political science professor said Friday.

“I think that his claim that one of his achievements in his first 100 days of having a functional government is a bit below, you know, what the public has been expecting from him, since, remember that among the post-Edsa presidents, he is the only one who has gained… more than 50 percent of the votes,” Professor Dennis Coronacion of the University of Santo Tomas said.

“That has generated a lot of expectations from him, and that also, considering that we’re still in the pandemic, many people are thinking, that you know some of the problems they’re encountering can be solved by the President,” he added.

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Coronacion also said that, although it’s not unique to the Marcos administration, cabinet resignations that occurred before his first 100 days in office may create an impression that he is not in control of his allies.

Former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez stepped down from the “Little President” post in September after he was tagged in the sugar importation mess. He announced his “complete exit” from the Marcos administration on Wednesday.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Commission on Audit Chair Jose Calida have also quit their posts.

“In this case I think that it happened so fast and that it’s a series of resignations, so it creates the impression that the president might not be in control of things. Or he’s probably not strong enough to handle his allies,” he said.

“So the question there is, is his house still in order? And that’s something that he has to address, I think as soon as possible since some of the positions that had been vacated are key positions,” he added.

Coronacion also thinks Marcos’ decision to head the Department of Agriculture was not a wise move.

“That decision by the president has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that the agriculture department could easily, could have easily solved the problems that the agricultural sector is facing. But the way things are going now it seems that the disadvantages are the ones that we can see.”

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“Right now, it seems that the national government has been having a hard time addressing some issues and problems, especially yung urgent problems needed in the agriculture sector,” he said.

--ANC, 7 October 2022