OPINION
Ed Javier
Is This The President's Opening Move Or The Last Card?
Photo credit: PCO
When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. turned over ₱500 million last Saturday, February 21, 2026, for the modernization of the Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum, he delivered it to former Vice President and now Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo.
The event was framed as infrastructure and disaster preparedness. But in Philippine politics, geography is never neutral.
Naga City is the political home of Robredo. The coliseum bears the name of her late husband. Bicol remains among the most loyal Robredo territories in the country and the national mood, according to recent surveys, is shifting.
The President’s numbers have slipped from post-election highs. Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte continues to post formidable nationwide strength.
That contrast matters.
Governance Under Scrutiny
Public dissatisfaction is mounting. Hospitals remain congested, PhilHealth reforms are slow, and classroom shortages persist in both urban and rural schools.
Infrastructure projects, long promoted under “Build Better More,” suffer delays; roads, airports, and rail systems remain congested.
Recent appointments of figures with controversial pasts including questions of corruption and opaque political maneuvering, have compounded unease.
Yet, one institutional actor has quietly asserted itself: the Ombudsman, under the watchful eye of Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, has begun cracking down on corruption, signaling that accountability can still find traction.
Fiscal Management
To be fair, the Marcos administration has maintained macroeconomic stability amid global uncertainty. Inflation, while painful for many households, has not spiraled into full-blown crisis territory, and the peso has avoided the kind of sharp collapse seen in other emerging markets.
Fiscal managers have kept debt levels manageable, and investor sentiment has not completely eroded. For supporters, this suggests steady stewardship rather than systemic breakdown.
But stability on paper does not always translate to stability in the hearts of the people.
Numbers may reassure investors, yet public frustration is measured not in basis points, but in grocery receipts, electric bills, and the high cost of medicines and hospital bills that many families can barely afford.
The Shadow of The Hague
Hovering over all this is the legal storm surrounding former President Rodrigo Duterte and the proceedings at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
If political survival becomes the defining question of the next election cycle, 2028 stops being about legacy. It becomes about protection.
That changes everything.
If Sara Wins
If Vice President Duterte wins the presidency in 2028, what happens to the Marcos bloc?
Power rarely coexists peacefully between rival dynasties. Once the balance tips, it tips hard.
Her administration would inherit the Marcos Jr. administration’s faltering performance: lagging healthcare, high medicine prices, classroom shortages, congested transport, and unfinished infrastructure.
The high cost of power is evident, allies and relatives, including cousins, have been implicated in controversies.
All they would have to do is review the historical footage of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. fleeing to Hawaii with his family: the lesson is clear.
Protection once assumed can vanish under the weight of accountability. In a system where power shifts rapidly, no dynasty is immune.
History Repeating?
In 1986, after the fall of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the Marcos family fled to Hawaii amid a political earthquake.
No one is predicting tanks in the streets, but Philippine politics has never lacked drama when rival camps collide at full force.
History tests even the strongest dynasties. The fall of Marcos Sr. was sudden, but its warning signs were years in the making.
Today, the question over Marcos Jr. is whether history might echo again if public dissatisfaction grows and political miscalculations accumulate.
In Philippine politics, the tides do not wait.
Desperate Times?
Which brings us back to Naga.
Is the funding for the Robredo coliseum just governance? Or a layered signal, to Bicolanos, a softening of lines, a quiet hedge?
Is Robredo the administration’s last card?
If 2028 crystallizes into a Sara Duterte juggernaut, the Marcos camp faces a narrowing path.
Fielding its own candidate risks fragmentation. Sitting idle risks irrelevance. Confrontation risks escalation.
That leaves one possibility: encourage an alternative pole strong enough to split or blunt the Duterte wave.
Robredo remains the most viable non-Duterte national figure with an organized base, loyal following, and reformist branding. She has not declared anything.
But she remains politically alive. The question is not whether she wants to run. The question is whether the political system may quietly need her to.
Will Robredo be tempted to run amidst this barrage of funds, infrastructure gestures, and symbolic outreach by the administration?
Would Marcos and Robredo be willing to talk, smoke the peace pipe, and put aside the bitter words they exchanged in the past, in the interest of politics?
From Rivals to Necessity?
The Marcos–Robredo presidential race was one of the most bitter in recent memory. Words were exchanged, narratives hardened, camps demonized each other.
Yet, politics is not built on emotion. It is built on survival.
When survey trajectories shift and legal uncertainties loom, former rivals can become strategic necessities.
Desperate times do not always produce loud alliances. Sometimes they produce subtle gestures, infrastructure projects, symbolic outreach, unexpected bridges.
The modernization of the Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum may be about disaster resilience. Or it may be about political resilience.
Either way, the question now hanging over the administration is simple: Is this governance? Or positioning before the real storm of 2028?
Because if the winds continue to favor Sara Duterte, the Marcos camp must decide whether it will ride the tide, or brace for impact.
In Philippine politics, impact is never gentle.
Reconciliation or Strategy?
The ₱500 million turnover in Naga may be read in different ways, as reconciliation, as strategy, or as simple governance.
Whether it becomes an opening move toward stability or a desperate last card depends not on ceremonies, but on substance.
Sa dulo ng lahat, ang mga tanong na ito ay mahalaga: sino ang hahawak ng kapangyarihan, at sino ang mababaon sa basurahan ng kasaysayan?
The event was framed as infrastructure and disaster preparedness. But in Philippine politics, geography is never neutral.
Naga City is the political home of Robredo. The coliseum bears the name of her late husband. Bicol remains among the most loyal Robredo territories in the country and the national mood, according to recent surveys, is shifting.
The President’s numbers have slipped from post-election highs. Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte continues to post formidable nationwide strength.
That contrast matters.
Governance Under Scrutiny
Public dissatisfaction is mounting. Hospitals remain congested, PhilHealth reforms are slow, and classroom shortages persist in both urban and rural schools.
Infrastructure projects, long promoted under “Build Better More,” suffer delays; roads, airports, and rail systems remain congested.
Recent appointments of figures with controversial pasts including questions of corruption and opaque political maneuvering, have compounded unease.
Yet, one institutional actor has quietly asserted itself: the Ombudsman, under the watchful eye of Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, has begun cracking down on corruption, signaling that accountability can still find traction.
Fiscal Management
To be fair, the Marcos administration has maintained macroeconomic stability amid global uncertainty. Inflation, while painful for many households, has not spiraled into full-blown crisis territory, and the peso has avoided the kind of sharp collapse seen in other emerging markets.
Fiscal managers have kept debt levels manageable, and investor sentiment has not completely eroded. For supporters, this suggests steady stewardship rather than systemic breakdown.
But stability on paper does not always translate to stability in the hearts of the people.
Numbers may reassure investors, yet public frustration is measured not in basis points, but in grocery receipts, electric bills, and the high cost of medicines and hospital bills that many families can barely afford.
The Shadow of The Hague
Hovering over all this is the legal storm surrounding former President Rodrigo Duterte and the proceedings at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
If political survival becomes the defining question of the next election cycle, 2028 stops being about legacy. It becomes about protection.
That changes everything.
If Sara Wins
If Vice President Duterte wins the presidency in 2028, what happens to the Marcos bloc?
Power rarely coexists peacefully between rival dynasties. Once the balance tips, it tips hard.
Her administration would inherit the Marcos Jr. administration’s faltering performance: lagging healthcare, high medicine prices, classroom shortages, congested transport, and unfinished infrastructure.
The high cost of power is evident, allies and relatives, including cousins, have been implicated in controversies.
All they would have to do is review the historical footage of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. fleeing to Hawaii with his family: the lesson is clear.
Protection once assumed can vanish under the weight of accountability. In a system where power shifts rapidly, no dynasty is immune.
History Repeating?
In 1986, after the fall of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the Marcos family fled to Hawaii amid a political earthquake.
No one is predicting tanks in the streets, but Philippine politics has never lacked drama when rival camps collide at full force.
History tests even the strongest dynasties. The fall of Marcos Sr. was sudden, but its warning signs were years in the making.
Today, the question over Marcos Jr. is whether history might echo again if public dissatisfaction grows and political miscalculations accumulate.
In Philippine politics, the tides do not wait.
Desperate Times?
Which brings us back to Naga.
Is the funding for the Robredo coliseum just governance? Or a layered signal, to Bicolanos, a softening of lines, a quiet hedge?
Is Robredo the administration’s last card?
If 2028 crystallizes into a Sara Duterte juggernaut, the Marcos camp faces a narrowing path.
Fielding its own candidate risks fragmentation. Sitting idle risks irrelevance. Confrontation risks escalation.
That leaves one possibility: encourage an alternative pole strong enough to split or blunt the Duterte wave.
Robredo remains the most viable non-Duterte national figure with an organized base, loyal following, and reformist branding. She has not declared anything.
But she remains politically alive. The question is not whether she wants to run. The question is whether the political system may quietly need her to.
Will Robredo be tempted to run amidst this barrage of funds, infrastructure gestures, and symbolic outreach by the administration?
Would Marcos and Robredo be willing to talk, smoke the peace pipe, and put aside the bitter words they exchanged in the past, in the interest of politics?
From Rivals to Necessity?
The Marcos–Robredo presidential race was one of the most bitter in recent memory. Words were exchanged, narratives hardened, camps demonized each other.
Yet, politics is not built on emotion. It is built on survival.
When survey trajectories shift and legal uncertainties loom, former rivals can become strategic necessities.
Desperate times do not always produce loud alliances. Sometimes they produce subtle gestures, infrastructure projects, symbolic outreach, unexpected bridges.
The modernization of the Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum may be about disaster resilience. Or it may be about political resilience.
Either way, the question now hanging over the administration is simple: Is this governance? Or positioning before the real storm of 2028?
Because if the winds continue to favor Sara Duterte, the Marcos camp must decide whether it will ride the tide, or brace for impact.
In Philippine politics, impact is never gentle.
Reconciliation or Strategy?
The ₱500 million turnover in Naga may be read in different ways, as reconciliation, as strategy, or as simple governance.
Whether it becomes an opening move toward stability or a desperate last card depends not on ceremonies, but on substance.
Sa dulo ng lahat, ang mga tanong na ito ay mahalaga: sino ang hahawak ng kapangyarihan, at sino ang mababaon sa basurahan ng kasaysayan?
Ed Javier
Ed Javier is a veteran communicator with over 35 years of experience in corporate, government, and advocacy communications, spanning the terms of seven Philippine presidents. He is also a political analyst, entrepreneur, and media professional. Drawing on this experience, he delivers clear, accessible analysis of political, governance, and business issues.
Ed Javier
Feb 23, 2026
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