Vol. VII, No. 10 - May 31, 2025
The recent cabinet reshuffle by Marcos Jr. is nothing more than a theatrical ploy—a desperate attempt to project the illusion that the administration is in control, decisive, and responsive. Beneath the surface, the shake-up is a reactionary maneuver driven by broader shifts in the political terrain particularly caused by the mounting pressures from US imperialism, rival local factions and worsening discontent among the people.
The midterm elections revealed cracks in the ruling coalition. The resurgence of the so-called “opposition,” particularly the US-backed Liberal-Akbayan bloc, signals that Washington is hedging its bets. As Marcos fumbles in managing the crisis of inflation, joblessness, landlessness, and agricultural collapse, imperialist patrons are grooming new puppets who can more effectively stabilize elite rule and suppress dissent.
Meanwhile, the Duterte camp remains a formidable threat. With deep entrenchment in the military and police bureaucracy, as well as strong influence in both houses of congress, the Dutertes still cling to power. Their populist rhetoric and residual base support pose a real challenge to Marcos Jr., who is increasingly perceived as detached from the masses.
Yet any suggestion that the Dutertes offer a genuine alternative must be categorically rejected. Both Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Sara Duterte, must be held to account for their crimes. Rodrigo Duterte must be made to answer before the ICC for the thousands of extrajudicial killings under his so-called “war on drugs”—a campaign that devastated poor communities and normalized state impunity. Meanwhile, Sara Duterte must be impeached for the brazen malversation of public funds through the misuse of confidential and intelligence funds, which she diverted under the guise of vague “security” concerns even as public education and basic services remain grossly underfunded.
Marcos Jr.’s cabinet reshuffle is a calculated attempt to appease rival factions, consolidate crumbling alliances, and deflect attention from the regime’s inability to deliver on even its most basic promises. Nowhere is this failure more glaring than in the his promise to lower the price of rice and other basic commodities. Marcos’ much-publicized Benteng Bigas Meron na (BBM na!) program—a supposed flagship initiative to lower rice prices—is a band-aid solution at best. While it distributes government-purchased rice at subsidized prices in select areas, it neither addresses the chronic neglect of local farmers nor challenges the neoliberal import-dependence that has devastated the country’s food self-sufficiency.
Marcos Jr. is increasingly isolated from the masses. His policies serve foreign capital and local comprador-landlord interests, not the Filipino people. The regime’s militarist ‘counterinsurgency,’ suppression of dissent, and economic subservience further expose its anti-national and anti-people character. The worsening poverty, hunger, and hopelessness under his rule are not merely failures of governance; they are the logical outcomes of a reactionary system designed to exploit and oppress.
The reshuffling of seats in Malacañang’s sinking ship only confirms the irredeemable rot of the current political order. It cannot be “reformed” through elections or cabinet changes. The Filipino people must see through all these distractions and reject illusions of change from above and instead embrace the only path forward: revolutionary struggle. The ongoing armed resistance led by the Communist Party of the Philippines remains the clearest and most viable way to dismantle the ruling class monopoly on power and build a genuinely democratic government rooted in the interests of workers, peasants, and the oppressed majority.