Marcos’ early onset ‘lame-duckism’
President Marcos may be experiencing the early onset of ”lame-duckism”: the erosion of practical governing authority before his constitutional term ends. Five forces appear to be converging: the inherited credibility deficit associated with his family’s historical legacy; the rupture with the Duterte camp; weaknesses in executive recruitment and continuity; entrenched corruption across political and administrative institutions; and a performance trap in which declining public confidence makes effective government harder to deliver.
The central question is no longer whether Mr. Marcos can rescue his political fortunes. It is whether he can arrest deteriorating government performance, protect public resources, and leave behind a stronger state. His remaining time should be a period of urgent executive responsibility, not merely a countdown to May 2028. What is to be done?
First, make the national budget work for Filipino families. Every peso diverted through overpriced contracts, ghost projects, kickbacks, or politically protected expenditures is a peso denied to health care, education, housing, livelihoods, and disaster resilience. Mr. Marcos must confront corruption risks involving legislators, bureaucrats, and private contractors who collude in the misuse of public funds. Transparent procurement, project-level reporting, independent audits, whistleblower protection, and timely investigation must become operational safeguards. Allocations are not accomplishments; completed, functional and fairly distributed services are.
Require every department to identify priority programs and high-risk expenditures, publish implementation status, and explain delays and cost overruns. Compile a transition inventory of major contracts, outstanding obligations, procurement risks and unfinished projects, protecting essential services from disruption.
Second, make anticorruption enforcement credible. Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla should continue to be central to demonstrating that public office confers no immunity. His constitutional independence must be respected. The executive can preserve evidence, cooperate lawfully, strengthen internal controls and prevent agencies from obstructing accountability. Cases must proceed on evidence and due process, with public funds recovered wherever legally justified. The objective is not a parade of arrests, but an accountability system that prevents recurrence.
Establish an accountability ledger. Working within their respective mandates, the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Department of Justice, and relevant agencies should ensure that major cases, audit findings, referrals, recoveries, and corrective actions are properly documented. Preserve evidence and records; unresolved matters must not disappear with departing officials.
Third, defend Philippine rights in the West Philippine Sea. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro should sustain a coherent strategy combining defense preparedness, diplomacy, international law, alliance management, and clear public communication. Sovereignty is a national interest, not a partisan possession. The country’s position must be strong and consistent enough to survive a change of administration.
These priorities can rebuild trust only if commitments produce verifiable outcomes. But Mr. Marcos also faces a fourth task: make relay governance a concrete program of national transition. Relay governance is not choosing a successor. It is ensuring that whoever wins inherits a government ready to perform from day one. Three practical measures can make this possible.
First, institutionalize performance reporting. Departments should publish quarterly results against measurable service outcomes, not merely funds released or activities conducted. Explain failures, identify corrective measures and distinguish effective programs from those requiring redesign.
Second, prepare a national transition portfolio. Consolidate reliable information on the fiscal position, infrastructure commitments, social protection needs, public-sector capacity and West Philippine Sea priorities. Identify what must continue, what needs urgent correction, and what decisions belong to the incoming President. Protect legitimate national-security information without using secrecy to conceal ordinary public-interest information.
Third, ensure an orderly, nonpartisan transfer. Establish a professional transition mechanism with scheduled briefings, common reporting formats and clear responsibilities. Provide the incoming administration lawful access to relevant records and information, without privileging a chosen successor or using public resources for partisan purposes.
The political vacuum makes this preparation urgent. Vice President Sara Duterte’s political future remains subject to the constitutional process surrounding her impeachment; disqualification must not be assumed before that process is resolved. Meanwhile, no alternative governing project has visibly captured the national imagination around a compelling combination of integrity, competence, and public purpose. The presidential runway is in sight, yet the planes are not on the tarmac.
Relay governance means preparing the aircraft, checking its airworthiness, documenting the flight plan, and protecting its passengers—not choosing the next pilot. The passengers are the Filipino people. They deserve a government that works beyond the tenure of any president.
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