PALACE DRIVER President Marcos drives a golf cart with visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon as his passenger at the Malacañang grounds on Thursday. Luxon is on an official visit to Manila, the final leg of his Southeast Asian tour. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Citing his quest to “repair” his family’s image, as well as his post pandemic recovery efforts and stance against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, Time Magazine has named President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. one of the “100 Most Influential People of 2024.”
He was the third Philippine leader to make it to the list, after Benigno Aquino III (2013) and Rodrigo Duterte (2017). Aquino’s mother, the late former President Cory Aquino, was honored by the magazine as “Woman of the Year” in 1987.
READ: Bongbong Marcos is in Time’s 100 Most Influential People for 2024
In an article published on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), Time noted how Marcos, after nearly two years in office, had stood up to Beijing in the international stage and also stabilized the economy as it emerged from the COVID-19 slump.
But it also reminded readers about how he and the Marcos family had pulled off a comeback after a disgraceful downfall more than three decades ago.
Referring to him by his nickname, his profile for the Time list read: “Bongbong’s rise to the Philippine presidency in 2022 was owed to whitewashing this family legacy through clever manipulation of social media.”
It was in reference to the years between the Marcos family’s return from exile to Ferdinand Jr.’s gradual reentry into local politics and eventual drive for Malacañang. The last saw a well-funded media campaign centered on a call for “unity” in the country’s polarized political landscape while working to supplant the dark memories of his father’s dictatorship with claims and imagery of an economic golden age.
FOR IMPACT President Marcos (left, second row, in this screengrab image) is the third Philippine leader to make it to the Time 100.
Reshape, repair
Summing up his first major acts as President, Time added: “He brought technocrats back into government, steadied the post-pandemic economy, and elevated the Philippines on the world stage.”
“Bongbong has stood steadfast against Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea and bolstered his nation’s alliance with the United States in the face of ‘rising tensions in our region and the world,’ as he said last May,” it added.
His “desire to rehabilitate the Marcos name has resulted in other shifts.”
Though problems like extrajudicial killings and attacks on the press persist, the President may “reshape his country, too” in “trying to repair his family name.”
Palace on his selection
In a statement on Thursday, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Mr. Marcos’ inclusion in the Time selection highlighted his leadership that “puts the national interest and the welfare of every Filipino above all else.”
“The President continues to steer the country towards peace and prosperity towards his vision of a Bagong Pilipinas,” the PCO said.
Malacañang said Marcos had “elevated the Philippines on the world stage and contributed to regional stability, notably in the Indo-Pacific region” despite pandemic and geopolitical tensions.
Under his administration, the Philippines has experienced “robust economic growth and recovery, exceeding expectations and instilling confidence in the country’s economic outlook,” the Palace added.
Not just about power
Time Magazine started coming up with its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World—or “Time 100”—in 1999, but it only became an annual feature beginning 2004.
It recognizes not just the most popular or most powerful figures, but also persons who had made a major impact on the world, whether positive or negative.
The list has five categories: leaders and revolutionaries; builders and titans; artists and entertainers; scientists and thinkers; and heroes and icons
Aside from Marcos, Aquino III and Duterte, other Filipinos who have made it to the list are boxing legend and now Sen. Manny Pacquiao (2009 and 2010), then Sen. Leila de Lima (2017), and journalist and Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa (2019). —With a report from Inquirer Research