BBM turned pink?

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Amazing! Did BBM turn pink? He just urged Congress to swiftly pass key reform measures, all of which are pet bills of the opposition: the anti-political dynasty measure, independent people’s commission bill, amendments to the party-list system and a bill strengthening accountability on public finance.

According to a report from the government-run Philippine News Agency, “Marcos, in a meeting with the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) at Malacañang Palace, ordered Congress to prioritize the four bills,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said.

The Anti-Dynasty Bill prohibits individuals from running for or holding public office if they have a relative up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity who is an incumbent official at the national or local level.

On the other hand, the proposed Independent People’s Commission Act aims to expand the powers and transparency mechanisms of the commission to make it fully accountable, transparent and empowered to act against corruption across government sectors, not only in infrastructure.

The proposed Party-List Reform Act aims to overhaul the Philippine party-list system to ensure genuine representation of the marginalized and underrepresented sectors by introducing stronger safeguards and stricter screening of party-list groups and their nominees.

The proposed CADENA Act seeks to enhance transparency in government spending, mandating the full disclosure of all government transaction documents through a secure digital public ledger system.

The bills are mostly sponsored by Senators Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, Bam Aquino and party-list congressmen like Chel Diokno, Antonio Tinio, Renee Co, Kaka Bag-ao, etc. Senators Ping Lacson and Robin Padilla have also reportedly filed anti-political dynasty bills.

But before we get too excited, it is possible that this is a publicity stunt rather than an honest desire to have these reforms become law. BBM knows that the political old guards in Congress have no desire to commit political hara kiri.

These reform measures will likely be discussed forever. Already, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto is urging extensive public consultations which is good but is also a suggestion that we should not expect anything passed soon or ever.

I suspect that BBM is using this to ease the pressure on him on the corruption cases. This is why we should all keep pushing and let our politicians in Malacañang and Congress know that the people are still very angry and we expect them to move fast.

The only measure that may progress quickly is the blockchain or CADENA bill of Bam Aquino. Even politicians know that technology is moving fast. Sooner rather than later, even our national budget must be prepared, discussed and managed using the latest appropriate technology offering good transparency.

The party-list reform measure may be less offensive to most of our legislators because the abuse of the well- meaning provision of the 1987 Constitution is so obvious. The interpretation of the Supreme Court opened the floodgates of abuse.

The Independent Commission bill seems redundant. We already have the Ombudsman. The Independent Commission seems necessary only because the previous Ombudsman castrated his office. Impunity increased during the Duterte watch because the crooks knew it was safe to steal from the government… the Ombudsman will not stop them.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) issued a statement supporting the Independent Commission. It is probably better if they organized themselves and the private sector to help the Ombudsman by reporting wrongdoing and gathering evidence to make public officials accountable.

There is much the private sector can contribute to the cause of fighting corruption other than saliva. But day-to-day work commitment is not something the MAP would like to do. Issuing joint statements is easier.

The MAP, PCCI, FINEX, MBC, etc. can contribute volunteer lawyers and accountants to help the Ombudsman. But that identifies them and our private business sector does not have the balls to go that far.

So, we are still where we are, still hoping and praying for a miracle which can only happen if we continue being vigilant and noisy about our anger on our country’s state of affairs. No Christmas break for our mission to clean up the mess we have all allowed to grow. Stay angry!!!

Tourism

Financial analyst Eric Jurado sent me a note about how Vietnam’s tourism industry has tremendously progressed this year. That’s in sharp contrast to our tourism industry which may even end up weaker than it has ever been since the pandemic.

According to Jurado, Vietnam has broken records with 19.2 million international visitors and soaring profits in the hospitality industry. The new record for the 11 months of 2025 is a 21 percent increase year-on-year, edging its pre-COVID 2019 peak of 18 million.

“What’s more, Vietnam’s publicly listed hospitality firms have seen their earnings rise 163 percent, revenues surge  by 675 percent and overall market value explode by 2,283 percent over the past three years (through Dec. 5, 2025).

“Thanks to relaxed visa rules, expanded e-visa access, aggressive marketing and high season travel demand, Vietnam is reclaiming and surpassing its former glory — and businesses are reaping the rewards.”

Vietnam obviously has competent tourism officials, a dream for us. For example, the eTravel departure and arrival digital form we must fill up is so frustratingly cumbersome.

It takes me a long time to fill it up unlike the Singapore version which I do for five minutes or less. Our version asks so many things, even requires passwords unlike SG’s which simply asks for the basics for that particular flight. And slow to respond. Puede ba, gayahin na lang yung sa Singapore?

Here is an email from an arriving foreign journalist: “Honestly, it took us a good hour to complete the task (arrival declaration) and the website is sometimes very confusing. We both have Canadian passports… And try as we may, I don’t know how to get an arrival QR code… Hopefully they will still let us in.”

Why can’t our bureaucrats keep it simple?

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected] Follow him on X @boochanco