SHORTLY after Ferdinand "Makoy" declared martial law in 1972, he purged the bureaucracy, targeting government agencies which he deemed to be corrupt, incompetent and ineffective, particularly the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Customs (BOC). Makoy was in his second term, having been elected in 1965 and 1969.

BBM may have taken a page out of Dad's playbook. One popular speculation was that his Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas, a well-financed heterogeneous collection of comedians, actors, entertainers, sprinkled with hard-nosed traditional politicians, failed to deliver. Thus, the revamp. This could be one good alibi. The other is that this election was a referendum on BBM's tutelage the past three years. This is debatable. The Alyansa never did reflect the government's notions of governance. Each candidate comes from diverse politically devious camps hastily stitched from fabrics of diverse political ideologies — with some bankrupt of the same, recruited solely for their popularity and electability.

No platforms or programs of government were proposed and defended except for motherhood statements. There were no substantial debates of consequence. This midterm election was a penultimate contest between two erstwhile allied political dynasties, the Marcoses and the Dutertes, and, as in any Philippine elections, simply a clash of personalities and brands; preliminary gambits and a cacophonous prologue to the more lethal presidential elections in the 2028 election cycle.

The issues at hand have none of the economic programs or policy directions but traditional politics defined and imbued with emotional underpinnings: the Deegong's surreptitious rendition to The Hague and the impending ICC trial; the impeachment of VP Sara eliminating her from the political calculus; leading towards the possible expansion and perhaps perpetuation of the Marcos dynasty.

Thus, it's too pat for BBM to revamp the current Cabinet as punishment for this perceived midterm election debacle. In fact, half of the incoming senators, plus more than 80 percent of the lower house members who voted to impeach BBM's archrival, VP Sara, were reelected. BBM's move must be part of a strategy. But what?

Changing the face of the issue

This midterm election may have telegraphed to the public that BBM has been wounded badly though not mortally. There is this ubiquitous perception of failure and weakness. But he has three more years to govern and has full control of the levers of political power in government. This power is immense. Three years is time enough to repair his image and recuperate, demonstrating he is no lame duck.

The Cabinet revamp therefore was a necessary palabas — a moro-moro. BBM is simply executing a misdirection, a sleight of hand creating illusions, deceiving audiences. This is an in-your-face declaration that "I am in control. Anong say mo!" We may be looking at a different BBM today. Thus, parsing the acts of his father in 1972 may give us some hints on his current motivations and the kind of leadership he may want to portray.

Ferdinand Makoy's decisive acts

In retrospect, Ferdinand Makoy in 1972 was laying the ground for the extension of his term beyond 1973. Prior to this, he co-opted the leadership of the Armed Forces (AFP) and the Philippine Constabulary (PC), a military-type police force that maintained peace and order internally, mostly in the provinces.

He seized control with surgical precision. The martial law declaration allowed him to suspend the 1935 Constitution, effectively eliminating legal protections for civil servants and political opponents, removing individuals from their positions without due process. The two houses of the Philippine legislature were physically padlocked; the senators and congressmen, mostly political opponents and rivals, were removed and their leadership arrested.

In the first few hours of the martial rule declaration, Makoy closed all newspaper publications, controlling the media, restricting the flow of information, which helped suppress dissent and fashioned a narrative that supported his regime. It caught the public unaware.  

Makoy centralized authority within the executive branch, diminishing the power of local governments and other branches of government. This allowed him to exert greater control over the bureaucracy. Marcos established new government agencies and bodies, installing subordinates loyal to him, further reinforcing his control over the bureaucracy and ensuring that key functions were handled by trusted individuals.

Subsequently, through a series of actions and policies implemented after the martial law declaration on Sept. 21, 1972, only then did he proceed to purge the bureaucracy. 

BBM'S post-election moves

BBM's actions on May 22, 2025, weren't as grand or dramatic. This wasn't a recalibration or a "bold reset." This was an "inday-inday" limp-wrist act imploring his Cabinet and those heading key government agencies and those who addressed themselves as "secretary," fancying themselves with "Cabinet rank" to tender their "courtesy resignations." This could be the weak BBM's way of allowing his incompetent, corrupt but loyal cronies to save face, accepting their courtesies — mixing them with the good ones.

True enough, on the following day, he retained Executive Secretary Bersamin along with the whole economic team. What a start to his bold reset! The coming days should see the other nonperforming Cabinet members mixed in with the undesirables getting the boot. Rumors are circulating that the first lady may just have to let go of her favorite confreres, insert her own substitutes, and do away with her bête noires — the remnants of the Duterte loyalists. Secretary Guevarra and others may be on the dock.
From the looks of it, BBM may have a seed of a strategy. Depending on the profile of the incoming Cabinet, various scenarios can be deduced. If the same tired old are reinstated, then my first conjecture above may be en point. BBM and the first lady may just want to get rid of the undesirables — in a nice way; for example, booting out Anton Floirendo for the failure of Alyansa and the corruption and anomalies in the BARMM, among others.

But if BBM begins to decapitate the BIR and the BOC, and goes deep attempting to eliminate corruption, intimidate and strike fear in the bureaucracy, then he may be cutting a different but welcome path. But does he really have the balls for it?Advertisement

In 1972/1973 his father culled the bureaucracy of misfits and proceeded to shame them, publishing their names in the press and media. In some ways, Makoy did strike fear in the corrupt bureaucracy, until he himself created and introduced a deadlier superstructure for corruption and depravity — crony capitalism and kleptocracy. 

BBM'S ongoing narrative

BBM can adopt his father's template departing from a type of governance totally different from his personality and style of decision-making. This could wrest the momentum away from the recent perceived victory of the Duterte-backed opposition.

The next few days will give us a better grasp of the raison d'etre of this Cabinet revamp. It is not so much whether the incompetents and the corrupt are replaced. This is not even a recalibration. Methinks that BBM refuses to see that he may be the problem after all. And the whole exercise is to demonstrate that he is not a lame duck. That he still calls the shots!