President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. received a failing mark for his first 100 days in office from France Castro, the House deputy minority leader and representative of the ACT Teachers Partylist.
In a statement, the teacher solon said, “Sa totoo lang parang may pagka-deja vu ang Marcos Jr. administration sa nakaraang administrasyon ni Duterte. Napakaraming pinangako pero wala pa ding natutupad isa na dito ang dapat na pagtataas ng sahod ng mga guro.”
No matter if you are an opposition official, member of the media, an activist, or a regular person seeking the government’s attention, you will either be red-tagged, imprisoned on spurious accusations, or worst of all, slain like in the instance of radio commentator Percy Mabasa, she emphasized.
In terms of priorities, Castro said the President places the interests of the wealthy and foreign investors above those of his long-suffering poor constituents, as evidenced by the extravagant F1 Grandprix trip he took on taxpayer money in Singapore.
“Sa 2023 national budget inuna pa ang napakalaking bayad utang kesa sa mga batayang serbisyo para sa mamamayan. Nagsubi din ng napakalaking intelligence funds at confidential funds para sa kanyang sarili at kay VP Sara Duterte na para na sila na mismo ang intelligence agencies ng bansa pero ang totoo ay presidential at vice-presidential pork ang mga ito,” she added.
“The Marcos admin should also look into the power situation of the country since two power oligarchs are now battling it out on who would extra more money from consumers by imposing power rate hikes. Napakataas na din ng inflation sa basic goods, pagkain at transportasyon pero wala pa ding dagdag sahod sa mga manggagawa at government employees. Ganito ang nangyayari sa kalunsuran habang nagtataasan pa ang presyo ng bilihin at kawalan ng trabaho. Habang sa kanayunan naman ay wala pa ding lupa ang mga kalakhan sa mga magsasaka at tinamaan pa ng Super Bagyong Karding,” said the progressive solon.
Castro concluded by saying, “This is the dismal situation of our country under 100 days of Pres. Marcos Jr.’s administration. What he should do is reverse all what he is doing today and we might see some hope yet.”
Photo Credit: House of Representatives Official Website