By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

THE MARCOS administration’s efforts to consolidate support at the local level indicate increasing insecurity within the ruling coalition, which has been threatened by talks of unrest in the military amid tensions with political elites from the country’s south, certain political analysts said on Thursday.

The National Government will hold a grand rally with the theme “Bagong Pilipinas” (New Philippines) at a major grandstand in the capital Manila on Sunday, and expected guests include President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and other government officials.

The kick-off rally, which has been endorsed by various government agencies, followed a year that saw major internal rumblings against the backdrop of rising commodity prices, which have significantly lessened the administration’s popularity among its most loyal supporters.

“It’s a show of strength to bolster continued support to the regime in the face of breakaway elements from the Unity coalition,” Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“It’s an attempt to overawe potential defectors to Duterte’s camp,” he said. “It does help that the Marcos loyalists tend to be a bit more consistent ideologically than the allies of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.”

The gap between Mr. Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, his running mate in the 2022 elections, widened last year following moves by House lawmakers to strip the latter of her confidential and intelligence funds under the 2024 national budget amid widespread public criticism.

In an apparent response, Mr. Duterte, the former president, had accused House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, a first cousin to Mr. Marcos, and other lawmakers of corruption and called on the public to stop paying taxes.

Tensions between Mr. Romualdez and the Dutertes of the southern Philippine city of Davao had been apparent after the House lawmakers removed former president and now Pampanga lawmaker Gloria M. Arroyo in May from her senior deputy speakership post and then again in November as a deputy speaker.

Mr. Marcos has veered away from some of the key policies of the Duterte administration, like standing up to Beijing amid its aggression in the South China Sea and vowing to shift the focus of the government’s anti-narcotics campaign to rehabilitation from a deadly approach.

“This event is either a re-assertion of ‘Unity’ or a redirection towards a narrative of ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ that need not be based upon a Marcos-Duterte Uniteam,” said Anthony Lawrence Borja, a political science professor at De La Salle University.

Aside from the personality-driven tensions between members of the “Marcos-Romualdez and Duterte factions,” he also cited recent confrontations between the Senate and the House of Representatives on the push to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Efforts to amend the country’s 36-year-old Charter — written after a popular street uprising in 1986 that topped the dictatorial regime of Mr. Marcos’ late father — have been emboldened by a so-called “people’s initiative,” a move tainted by allegations of bribery that would allow both houses of Congress to act as a Constituent Assembly and vote jointly.

On Wednesday, the 24-member Senate issued a strongly worded statement against the move, saying it is “ridiculous” for the Senate to have a “dispensable and diluted role” in the Charter change (“Cha-cha”) push.

Mr. Marcos, 66, recently said he is in favor of amending the economic as well as the political provisions of the Charter. The economic aspects should be prioritized over the political provisions so as not to derail the “Cha-cha” push, he noted in a television interview.

“I won’t be surprised if this kick off rally becomes an impromptu roadshow of the Charter Change agenda,” Mr. Juliano said, “with the crowds being promised so many things to support the initiatives of the allies.”

An anti- “Cha-cha” rally, which is expected to be attended by thousands, will also be held on Sunday in Davao City, the political bailiwick of the former president and his family.

“What we are witnessing is a show of force or numbers from both sides,” Jan Robert Go, who teaches political science at the University of the Philippines, said via Messenger chat.

“On the one hand, you have the Marcoses proclaiming a ‘new’ Philippines, a banner of the administration’s vision,” he explained. “On the other hand, you have a rally that denounces the charter change efforts, primarily attributed to the House of Representatives led by the President’s cousin.”

“It is not a coincidence that the anti-chacha rally will be held in Davao,” he added.

Mr. Go said the Duterte camp might be redefining or recreating another center of political power, which is Davao City, where the former president had been known for his brutal campaign against alleged criminals.

The administration-led Sunday rally at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila would likely serve a “consolidation of factions heralding a post-Unity period” amid the rise of a supposed new opposition,” Mr. Borja said.

“It can even end up as a poorly attended rally given sustained political inaction among many Filipinos.”

Inflation remains a key risk to the Philippines’ economic growth, and a recent survey by Octa Research showed that most Filipinos view it as a top concern.

Headline inflation hit a 14-year high of 8.7% year on year in the first month of 2023. It declined to 3.9% in December, but the full-year average for 2023 hit 6.0%, breaching the central bank’s 2%-4% target.

Earlier this month, the Trade department said it had permitted manufacturers of basic necessities and prime commodities to reduce the size or weight of their products to cope with rising costs of production.

“The rally will in no way help Filipinos cope with the many challenges they face on a daily basis,” policy analyst Michael Henry Yusingco said via Messenger chat.

“This rally is an exercise of pure self-indulgence — just to make the administration happy about itself at the expense of taxpayers.”

VICE PRESIDENT and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio unveiled a program that seeks to digitalize public schools nationwide and cited the gains of a pilot curriculum put in place last year to address the cut in learning competencies at an annual event attended by the President on Thursday.

“We will pursue full digitization and interconnectivity of all DepEd (Department of Education) offices and schools,” Ms. Duterte-Carpio said at the Basic Education Report 2024 at a hotel in Pasay City, where she also launched her department’s Digi-Ed (Digital Education) 2028 program.

In attendance, sitting beside her on the stage, was President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

Also addressing the event, Mr. Marcos mentioned the pilot run of the DepEd’s recalibrated curriculum — the Matatag K-to-10 program in 35 schools — and cited the need to continually train and upskill teachers.

“Teachers are incubators of ideas. Teachers are innovators. So as we move forward, let us keep the teachers as the standards for learning competencies,” he said in his speech after Ms. Duterte-Carpio’s address.

Moments earlier, the Vice President said the DepEd also vowed to build more classrooms and boost teaching skills but underscored the importance of the Digi-Ed 2028 program.

“This will be our flagship program to banner our commitment to adaptability and technological advancement,” she said.

Under the program, DepEd will ensure internet connectivity in schools, harness the potential of technology to advance teaching and learning methods, and pursue large-scale assessments using computer-based methodologies.

While 69% of DepEd schools nationwide have access to internet connectivity, “the truth is that most are limited only to faculty Rooms,” said Ms. Duterte-Carpio, noting talks with internet providers to boost teachers’ and learners’ Wi-Fi access.

Digi-Ed also pushes for the creation of electronic versions of textbooks.

“To leverage digital technology, we have started consultations with various publishers to facilitate the provision of electronic textbooks,” Ms. Duterte-Carpio said, noting that winning bidders in the procurement of textbooks for the so-called Matatag K-10 Curriculum will be required to “provide us with electronic copies that learners may access anytime.”

She said the agency will also promote the responsible and ethical use of technology, “especially with the world exploring Artificial Intelligence in both teaching and learning.”

Under the new jargon, DepEd will build a one-stop “online/offline platform open to teachers, learners and parents.” It will house all digital learning resources and applications in a bid to make learning and teaching materials “accessible” even in times of calamities.

“The portal also seeks to connect multiple DepEd systems in order to provide real-time education statistics and information to our stakeholders.”

Ms. Duterte said DepEd also seeks to “close the gap” in physical infrastructure,” vowing to prioritize schools that have makeshift or temporary classrooms and calamity-stricken areas with many unfunded calamity-damaged school buildings.

The agency will also focus on the construction of medium-rise school buildings in priority areas “with high classroom shortage but with limited buildable space,” she added.

The so-called Matatag curriculum that was launched last year cut down learning competencies down to around 3,600 from over 11,000 to prioritize literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills, which are all deemed “foundational” by DepEd.

It is being piloted in 35 schools nationwide, including sites in Cordillera Administrative Region, Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Visayas, Soccsksargen, and Caraga.

Earlier this month, ACT Teachers Party-list said the government, through the years, has failed to implement a significant salary increase that is at par with the living wage.

The current DepEd leadership has remained “silent on the pleas of teachers and employees,” it said.

Ms. Duterte, in her report, said the agency has already “engaged the World Bank to provide us with a study on teacher salary.”

“We will continuously strengthen teacher support through Professional Development Programs for educators and school leaders, as well as training for teaching reading across grade levels,” she pledged. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

CHINA has increased its maritime militia presence at Mischief Reef in an apparent attempt to block a regular resupply mission by the Philippines to its troops stationed in the wreckage of a World War II ship grounded on Second Thomas Shoal, a think tank said on Thursday.

Most of China’s maritime militia vessels have been deployed to Mischief Reef, “where the Qiong Sansha Yu fleet is up from 14 last week to 35 now,” Raymond Powell, lead of Project Myoushu at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, said in an X message.

He said China may be boosting its presence there until after the Philippines’ next resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal, in which a World War II-era ship was grounded in 1999 to assert Philippine presence following China’s seizure of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in 1995.

The United States-based think tank at the weekend China had “major maritime rotation” across the South China Sea as it deployed at least 27 Qiong Sansha Yu-class ships south into the Spratly Islands and east into Scarborough Shoal.

The movement was seen just days after the Philippines and China convened their eighth Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) meeting in Shanghai and agreed yet again to deescalate tensions through friendly talks.

On Monday, the Philippine military said it had postponed a resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre because Unaizah Mae 1, one of its indigenous boats used for the activity, experienced “technical difficulty.”

“So, until such time that we determine that that vessel going to be used is seaworthy,” its spokesperson, Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said. “That’s the time that we can reschedule another mission.”

During a resupply mission in early December, the wooden boat experienced “reckless and dangerous harassment at close range” and was rammed by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel. Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner, Jr. was onboard at that time.

A News5 report on Tuesday, which cited an unnamed senior military official, said the AFP had “dropped food, water and other supplies” from a plane to troops stationed on BRP Sierra Madre, which is manned by over a dozen troops. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza