Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was sworn in as the 17th President of the Philippines in Manila on June 30, 2022.
In his speech, Marcos promised Filipinos that he shares their dreams for a better life.
“Ang pangarap ninyo ay pangarap ko rin,” Marcos declared.
(Your dreams are also mine.)
Marcos thus completed his family’s comeback to political power 36 years after his father Ferdinand Sr. was ousted in the 1986 People Power Revolution.
Marcos won the national elections on May 9, 2022 by a landslide and with over 31 million votes.
Marcos ran on a platform to bring unity to Filipinos.
The 64-year-old Marcos took his oath of office before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo at the National Museum in Manila.
“Ako si Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. ay taimtim na nanunumpa na tutuparin ko nang buong katapan at sigasig ang aking mga tungkulin bilang pangulo ng Pilipinas at ipagtatanggol ang kanyang Konstitution, ipatutupad ang batas nito, magiging makatarunagan sa bawat tao at itatalaga ang bawat sarili sa paglilingkod sa bansa. Kasiyahan nawa ako ng Diyos,” Marcos said in his oath.
(I, Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill my duties as the president of the Philippines, defend its Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate myself to the service of the nation. So help me God.)
Before the inauguration, Marcos went to Malacañang and met his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.
With Marcos as he took his oath were his wife Liza, and sons Sandro, Simon and Vincent.
Sandro is congressman of Ilocos Norte, the position his father was elected to when he returned from exile abroad in 1992.
The President’s mother — the Marcos family matriarch — former first lady Imelda Marcos, was also present at the inauguration.
Marcos’ running mate Vice President Sara Duterte also attended the event.
Marcos wore a barong tagalog designed by Pepito Albert.
The inauguration comes days after the Supreme Court junked the disqualification and cancellation of certificate of candidacy cases against Marcos.
Marcos has made tackling inflation, boosting growth, and ramping up food production the priorities of his administration.
He will serve as president until 2028.
Marcos, who ran under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, obtained 31,629,783 votes in the official tally for the 2022 presidential race.
Marcos will temporarily be the Agriculture secretary.
Aside from pushing for unity, Marcos had promised to lower electricity rates, provide sufficient energy supply and reduce rice prices.
The former senator also vowed to continue the Build, Build, Build program of the Duterte administration and prioritize the development of digital infrastructure.
After his oath-taking, Marcos proceeded to Malacañang where he is expected to administer the oath of the members of his Cabinet.
A majority of Filipinos, at 73 percent, believe that the economy should be the top priority for the Marcos administration, the PUBLiCUS Pahayag Second Quarter survey showed.
This was followed by job generation at 53 percent and education at 32 percent.
As respondents were asked to rank their top three priority issues, the Philippine economy was the top issue with 42 percent.
“Poverty, corruption, inflation and agriculture notched selection shares on or above the 15 percent mark — but well below the 25 percent mark, keeping them in the background,” PUBLiCUS said in a statement.
Other concerns included agriculture, peace and order, Covid-19 vaccines, environment, electricity, wages and illegal drugs.
Issues of terrorism, constitutional reform, tax reform, internet, water, international relations with China, international relations with the United States and transportation were in the lower priority, garnering only around 1 to 4 percent of respondents.
Moreover, the inability to afford basic needs emerged as the most popular micro or household-level issue among respondents, at 59 percent.
Next were difficulty in finding employment (46 percent), getting sick with a disease apart from Covid-19 (41 percent), not getting enough pay (41 percent), getting sick with a Covid-19 variant (39 percent) and losing a job (37 percent).
Being a victim of a crime (25 percent) and the inability to afford luxuries (11 percent) were also concerns raised in the household, but of lower priority.
The pollster noted that these issues can be viewed to be “consistent with the distribution of macro-level concerns, more specifically, people are keenly concerned with the economy — and how it relates to their livelihoods.”
PUBLiCUS conducted the Pahayag Second Quarter Survey from June 16 to 22, 2022, among 1,500 registered Filipino voters randomly sampled by a US-based panel marketplace, Purespectrum.
Meanwhile, Duterte left Malacañang for good in the morning of June 30 after a brief meeting with Marcos.
Duterte arrived past 9 a.m., followed shortly by Marcos.
The two leaders then proceeded inside Malacañan Palace for one-on-one talks.
After the meeting, both descended the Palace stairs, and witnessed the departure honors for the outgoing leader.
Duterte also took his final solo stroll at the Kalayaan grounds as the country’s president.
He was given a 21-gun salute as part of the customary send-off.
