The woman DDS love to hate

The woman DDS love to hate Featured

Lito Monico C. Lorenzana
LML Polettiques
02 October 2024
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Second of a series

LAST week's column ended with first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos stepping into controversy. She didn't burst into the scene, but it was a seemingly nonchalant depiction of a video clip at the airport departure ceremonies for the first couple leaving for a state visit to Vietnam. As is traditional for the president leaving the country, government VIPs send the first couple off. During such occasions, the president, by protocol, troops the line of VIPs bidding them a safe journey before he goes up the plane.

The first lady, who was not required to troop the line, arrested her climb to the plane and side-stepped to warmly greet with a "beso-beso" Executive Secretary Bersamin, the third highest-ranking government official standing beside Vice President Sara Duterte — by etiquette, the last VIP the President talks to bidding the president bon voyage. Liza shattered decorum and, in a simple gesture of indelicacy — never even gave VP Sara a nod. It was a monumental snob! And in bad taste!

Sara's fiercely loyal fan base, her Davao constituents, where she was mayor for three consecutive terms, was aghast. The Diehard Duterte Supporters (DDS), the Deegong's group that propelled him to the presidency in 2016 and now championing the daughter, are now targeting their guns at Malacañang, where a weak president with a strong and imperious consort resides. VP Sara supporters, the new DDS, have now selected another woman as their bete noire.

The rift

It all started with "Bangag'! ("Filipino women in high-stakes politics" and "Clash of dynasties," The Manila Times, Sept. 25, 2024 and March 6, 2024, respectively). In an interview with Liza (published by GMA Integrated News, April 19, 2024), "First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos said she had been avoiding Vice President Sara Duterte to show her resentment after the latter's father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, called President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. 'bangag,' or high on drugs. According to Ivan Mayrina's report on '24 Oras,' the first lady said she took offense when she saw the vice president laughing over the former president's remark at a rally in Davao City in late January. The first lady said the vice president was a 'bad shot' for her unless she said sorry or whatever. 'I'm many things, but I am not a hypocrite,' the first lady said in an interview on the 'Tune in kay Tunying.'"

This was not a preview to a catfight between strong-willed women. Behind this is the deeper rivalry between the Marcos and Duterte political dynasties. Sara, who gave way to BBM for the presidency, naively lent the Duterte family's popularity, particularly in Mindanao, to propel BBM to the presidency. Marcos owes Sara and the Dutertes for his triumph. With this, Sara rightfully was entitled to the position of the "heiress-in-waiting." BBM's children in elective positions are deemed yet unripe for the presidency. Rep. Sandro Marcos, BBM's oldest, at 33 years, needs maturation. Sen. Imee's third son, Gov. MJ of Ilocos Norte, is not in the line of succession, and his two older brothers are not into politics.

This coming 2025 midterm elections will lay the groundwork for the perpetuation of either of these dynasties. In the absence of a Marcos heir, a suitable substitute is needed. Enter the Marcos surrogate, the billionaire House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who, together with first lady Liza, form a formidable political alliance. These two are believed to hold the levers of power in government, with perhaps the acquiescence of the clueless president.

Liza

Among spouses of male Philippine presidents, Liza Araneta-Marcos ranks as perhaps the most accomplished. A practicing lawyer and an academic, she finished at the country's best schools, studied abroad and for a time lived in New York. The first glimpse of Liza's public demeanor was her interview with Boy Abunda in March 2022, just after her husband won the presidency. Asked if she was taking a government post, her retort: "I'll cross the bridge when I get there. But if ever, teaching will be good. I'm a lawyer. But entering government? No way. They can't afford me," she said with a laugh. "I'll fire all of them. I'm very New York, so it has to be my way or the highway," Liza added.

Such a response with a tinge of arrogance could be dismissed as "tongue in cheek." But just at the cusp of her new role as a first lady and wife of a Marcos, one can't dismiss the eerie feeling of déjà vu, harking back to another first lady of the 3,000 pairs of shoes.

It is unfair at this point to compare Liza to Imelda, but many of the old Marcos loyalists and protagonists still remember the infamous conjugal dictatorship — and the dread that it could be reprised in a contemporary setting. Looking back, Imelda was one of a kind, not so much for her influence over Macoy, especially in the closing days of his regime, but for being a polarizing figure who both elicited admiration and vilification.

Macoy's first lady was a woman of leisure, known for her profligacy in her New York shopping sprees, her extravagant parties, her well-choreographed state visits, and her hobnobbing with the jet-setters and Hollywood celebrities. She was appointed secretary of her own cabinet-ranked human settlements department and was elected to the Marcos "Batasang Pambansa," from whence she parlayed her position and prestige to indulge in her "edifice complex"; a slew of "Centers" — Cultural Center, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, Philippine International Convention Center, Manila Film Center, the Coconut Place, San Juanico Bridge — and all these are still standing.

Her extravagant lifestyle and vast collections of prime property, artwork and jewelry are emblematic of the corruption and excesses of the Marcos regime. Ferdinand Macoy is gone while Imelda lives. Urban legend has assumed a certain patina of truth: that Imelda caused the husband's downfall. Filipinos are currently fearful of a virtual doppelganger.

Unholy alliance

Liza is not an Imelda. She doesn't possess the beauty, the elegance, the stature and the political acumen of the "Iron Butterfly." But she has the intellect, the fierce qualities of a protective mother hen and the manipulative subtlety of a New Yorker, as seen in how she pushes Speaker Martin out front and center to do her bidding — demolishing Sara at the budget hearings, fronted by the speaker's acolytes, the shameless duo, Quimbo and Abante, who in the course of their inquisition lay themselves open to societal opprobrium over their public display of unexplained wealth — branded luxury watches and Birkin bags.

An erstwhile Malacañang insider minced no words in describing the first lady. Vic Rodriguez, BBM's close friend and chief strategist during the 2022 election campaign, who was rewarded with the choice position of executive secretary was unequivocal on who runs the country: "Araneta-Marcos wanted to insert her influence into revenue-generating offices like the Bureau of Customs (BoC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). She even called meetings at Malacañang with Cabinet members."

Make no mistake, the puppet strings are being pulled by the lady in Malacañang.


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