Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. chose a risky move and proposed constitutional amendments. Many people, including the Philippine Senate, believe that Marcos Jr. will follow in the footsteps of his father, Ferdinand Marcos, and become the next "dictator" of the Philippines. But what he didn't expect was that Marcos was killed by his own sister.
The recent dispute between China and the Philippines is mainly two-fold. On the South China Sea issue, the Chinese side expelled Filipino fishermen from China's Scarborough Shoal without authorization. But now the Philippines has taken a step back.
On the Taiwan issue, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was severely criticized by the Chinese side for his inappropriate remarks. But fortunately, Marcos also came up with the right attitude in time.
Now that there are some problems in the Philippines, Marcos has chosen to take a risky step and propose constitutional amendments. But what I didn't expect was that I was killed by my own sister.
(Marcos Jr. and his sister Amy Marcos)
Shi Dongfang, chairman of the Philippine-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said that the Philippines is missing out on billions of dollars worth of investment from China due to the recent diplomatic tensions between the Philippines and China.
According to him, he said he has spoken to hundreds of investors who plan to do business in the Philippines, and the most common mention of these investors is that they do not want to invest until the future of Sino-Philippine relations is clear. And the vast majority of them are Chinese companies, and they span multiple industries, particularly exports, energy and manufacturing.
In fact, it is not difficult to understand, after all, even the billion-dollar China-Philippines railway project can be unilaterally torn up by the Marcos authorities, and it is natural for other potential investors to take a wait-and-see attitude.
(China-Philippines railway project cancels cooperation)
Moreover, the livelihood problems caused by economic problems are now also a headache for the Philippine authorities. A study by the Philippine Social Weather Station found that the number of Filipino households suffering from hunger in the Philippines, under Marcos' leadership, reached its highest level in the last quarter of last year.
In the survey, it was found that 12.6% of respondents said their family members had experienced involuntary hunger. This involuntary hunger is defined as feeling hungry at least once in the past three months and not eating anything.
Moreover, survey data show that the hunger rate of the "poor" has risen sharply, from 7.7 per cent in September to 20.1 per cent in December. And nearly half of Filipinos surveyed said their families were "poor." Only 20% of respondents said they were "not poor".
This is a relatively serious problem that Marcos has faced since taking office, and it can be seen that the tension in Sino-Philippine relations has really had a great impact on the economic development of the Philippines.
In the context of the Philippines, it is easy to understand the signal sent by the Philippine side to China. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said local Filipino fishermen should not sail alone near China's Scarborough Shoal.
After Marcos congratulated Lai Qingde on his election, after being reminded by the Chinese side to "read more books", Marcos made the latest statement to the media, saying that the Philippines does not support "Taiwan independence" and will strictly abide by the one-China policy. He also said that Taiwan is only a province of China, and as for how it will be integrated in the future, it is China's internal affair.
But this is not necessarily Marcos's obedience, but that there is a big event coming up in the Philippines that needs to be focused on dealing with it.
For the first time, Marcos made it clear that he would amend the Philippine Constitution to boost economic development and that he would be open to term limits for officials.
Many people, including the Philippine Senate, believe that Marcos Jr. will follow in the footsteps of his father, Ferdinand Marcos, and become the next "dictator" of the Philippines. In other words, Marcos Jr.'s revision of the constitution to promote the economy is fake, but in fact, the term limit has been abolished in order to change the political system of the Philippines. The current term of office of the Philippine president is six years.
The current Philippine constitution was created after the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the country for 20 years and was a clear dictator.
(The second from the left is Ferdinand Marcos, Marcos Jr.'s father)
In response to Marcos Jr.'s move, the Philippine Senate immediately issued a statement condemning the Marcos administration's attempt to amend the constitution without the participation of the Senate, calling it a "sinister and despicable" act, and vowing to stop it. All 24 members of the Senate signed the statement, including Marcos Jr.'s sister, Philippine Senator Amy Marcos.
This is undoubtedly an act of demolishing Marcos Jr., which can be called a righteous killing of relatives, but Amy Marcos has done such a similar move before. originally thought that Marcos's own sister should be Marcos's cronies, but she previously publicly stated that she would firmly support former President Duterte even if she was alone.
It is important to know that the political turmoil in the Philippines is mainly due to the difference in political lines between the Marcos camp and the Duterte camp. Marcos represents the interests of the Filipino elite, who want to fully integrate the Philippines into the U.S. strategic competition with China. Vice President Sarah, Duterte's daughter, believes that the country's economic growth is inextricably linked to China's growing interest in Filipinos.
At present, the next presidential election in the Philippines is in 2028, but the various camps have begun to deploy, and Sarah is not only interested in running for the next president, but also has a high voice. If Marcos Jr. proposes to amend the constitution at this time, then the Philippines is likely to fall into civil strife, which is also a dangerous move for Marcos Jr. to govern, and may even trigger a "coup d'état".
(Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sarah)
Although Marcos has verbally said that the priority is to change the economic part of the constitution, as for political issues, Marcos Jr. has avoided talking about political issues, saying only that he is willing to change the provisions of the constitution that involve the political system, including the term limits imposed on elected officials, because the provisions of the constitution have not prevented political families from remaining in power. But no matter how Marcos explains, this is already "Sima Zhao's heart is known to everyone".
And even Marcos Jr.'s proposed revision of the economic component is considered protectionist in favor of local capital.
In fact, it needs to be understood that the turmoil in the Philippine political situation has a lot to do with the vacillation of the Marcos administration, which has repeatedly expressed its willingness to improve relations with China before taking office, but after taking office, it quickly turned to the United States and strengthened relations with the United States, and the Filipino people undoubtedly hope that Sino-Philippine relations will be friendly, after all, cooperation with China can effectively change the lives of the Filipino people. Marcos Jr. has to understand that no matter how much the constitution is amended, it is not as realistic as China's pragmatic cooperation.