OPINION
Ed Javier
Mr. President, Pick The Team You Can Live And Die With
Photo credit: Bongbong Marcos
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has done what few expected: he asked for the courtesy resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries.
It was a bold move. A signal that he heard the people loud and clear after the 2025 midterm elections.
A message that business as usual is no longer acceptable. That the era of excuses and inertia must end.
But what happens next will matter even more than the announcement. The real test lies not in what PBBM said but in what he is about to do.
We’ve seen this moment before. Napanood na natin ang sineng ito. Ano ang bago?
A Cabinet shake-up is announced, names are floated, alliances reshuffled, and then it’s back to business as usual.
The same recycled faces. The same power games. The public is tired of the musical chairs.
What they want now is depth, not drama. Delivery, not just designation.
To make this moment count, the PBBM must surround himself with people not just capable but loyal, competent, and grounded in empathy.
Filipinos are tired of officials who serve one president, then another, shifting allegiances to stay in power.
We all know them.
Some served under other masters, and when the wind changed, they jumped ship, eager to pledge loyalty to whoever wore the crown next.
But the country does not need fair-weather friends. And the President does not need transactional operators.
What he needs are the people who were there when no one else dared to be.
Those who stood by him and his family not just when he became President, but when they were exiled in 1986, when being a Marcos ally wasn’t fashionable.
They stayed not for position or payback, but because they believed in something greater than power.
These are the people forgotten when the initial Cabinet was formed. Overlooked by the powers that be.
But maybe, just maybe, this is the moment to remember them.
Because these are the people you can live and die with. The ones who won’t disappear when things get tough.
The ones who understand the pain of the Filipino people not just from reports and briefings, but from lived experience.
We need officials who know that public service is not a stepping stone. It is a burden, a duty, and an honor.
Loyalty must be matched by competence. Both must be anchored in empathy.
We’ve seen glimmers of that in a few key officials.
There are those who stuck their necks out for the PBBM when it counted. Who defended him not because it was easy or convenient but because they believed he was worth defending.
They did so not because it was their job but because it was their duty.
They didn’t stay silent or self-preserve when the going got tough. They didn’t save their political capital for another day or another administration.
This is a unique opportunity for PBBM to craft a Cabinet that reflects his message: responsive, reform minded, and real.
He should kick out without hesitation those who treat public service like a performance, whose only contribution is communicating sarcasm or condescension.
He deserves a team that can carry his message with sincerity, not arrogance.
Because this is no longer just about governance. It is about trust.
When bridges collapse or traffic grinds to a halt, when food prices soar or lives are lost in bureaucratic delay, people want to believe that someone in power cares, understands, and acts.
This is the moment for the President to prove that he does.
We raise these points not as mere critics but as citizens concerned for his success.
Because when the President gets it right, the country moves forward. When he falters, it is the people who pay the price.
This is a rare reset, not just born out of political necessity but out of public clamor.
Let it not go to waste.
Build a Cabinet the people can believe in.
Choose new faces, yes, but also retain the few who took on difficult tasks, risked their future, and stood by you when no one else dared.
Their loyalty and courage are not just admirable. They are assets.
This could be the turning point the nation has been waiting for.
Great leadership is defined by the choices made in moments like this.
It begins with the right decisions, Mr. President.
It was a bold move. A signal that he heard the people loud and clear after the 2025 midterm elections.
A message that business as usual is no longer acceptable. That the era of excuses and inertia must end.
But what happens next will matter even more than the announcement. The real test lies not in what PBBM said but in what he is about to do.
We’ve seen this moment before. Napanood na natin ang sineng ito. Ano ang bago?
A Cabinet shake-up is announced, names are floated, alliances reshuffled, and then it’s back to business as usual.
The same recycled faces. The same power games. The public is tired of the musical chairs.
What they want now is depth, not drama. Delivery, not just designation.
To make this moment count, the PBBM must surround himself with people not just capable but loyal, competent, and grounded in empathy.
Filipinos are tired of officials who serve one president, then another, shifting allegiances to stay in power.
We all know them.
Some served under other masters, and when the wind changed, they jumped ship, eager to pledge loyalty to whoever wore the crown next.
But the country does not need fair-weather friends. And the President does not need transactional operators.
What he needs are the people who were there when no one else dared to be.
Those who stood by him and his family not just when he became President, but when they were exiled in 1986, when being a Marcos ally wasn’t fashionable.
They stayed not for position or payback, but because they believed in something greater than power.
These are the people forgotten when the initial Cabinet was formed. Overlooked by the powers that be.
But maybe, just maybe, this is the moment to remember them.
Because these are the people you can live and die with. The ones who won’t disappear when things get tough.
The ones who understand the pain of the Filipino people not just from reports and briefings, but from lived experience.
We need officials who know that public service is not a stepping stone. It is a burden, a duty, and an honor.
Loyalty must be matched by competence. Both must be anchored in empathy.
We’ve seen glimmers of that in a few key officials.
There are those who stuck their necks out for the PBBM when it counted. Who defended him not because it was easy or convenient but because they believed he was worth defending.
They did so not because it was their job but because it was their duty.
They didn’t stay silent or self-preserve when the going got tough. They didn’t save their political capital for another day or another administration.
This is a unique opportunity for PBBM to craft a Cabinet that reflects his message: responsive, reform minded, and real.
He should kick out without hesitation those who treat public service like a performance, whose only contribution is communicating sarcasm or condescension.
He deserves a team that can carry his message with sincerity, not arrogance.
Because this is no longer just about governance. It is about trust.
When bridges collapse or traffic grinds to a halt, when food prices soar or lives are lost in bureaucratic delay, people want to believe that someone in power cares, understands, and acts.
This is the moment for the President to prove that he does.
We raise these points not as mere critics but as citizens concerned for his success.
Because when the President gets it right, the country moves forward. When he falters, it is the people who pay the price.
This is a rare reset, not just born out of political necessity but out of public clamor.
Let it not go to waste.
Build a Cabinet the people can believe in.
Choose new faces, yes, but also retain the few who took on difficult tasks, risked their future, and stood by you when no one else dared.
Their loyalty and courage are not just admirable. They are assets.
This could be the turning point the nation has been waiting for.
Great leadership is defined by the choices made in moments like this.
It begins with the right decisions, Mr. President.
May 22, 2025
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