[Rappler’s Best] Knowing when to leave

'Knowing when to leave when one is very much entrenched in power has challenged leaders for generations'

America twists and turns again as US President Joe Biden quit the presidential race early hours of Monday, July 22 (Manila time), weeks after the Democratic party leaders, mates, and voters he once counted on had fallen out of love with him, so to speak. He has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his stead. 

With the 59-year-old Harris, the Democratic Party would be betting against a history of racism and sexism, as Reuters said in this story. If she emerges as the party’s nominee, it “would represent an unprecedented gamble…its first Black and Asian American woman to run for the White House in a country that has elected one Black president and never a woman president in more than two centuries.” 

Knowing when to leave when one is very much entrenched in power has challenged leaders for generations. Biden dug in for nearly a month since his disastrous June 27 debate with his arch rival, former president Donald Trump and despite polls showing he was losing the Democrats’ base. Here at home, Vice President Sara Duterte clung to her seat as education secretary — even after exposés on her confidential funds and obvious lack of skills in running the agency, and a falling out with the Marcos administration. From the looks of it, Duterte now sees the value of quitting: it has allowed her to speak — and act — more freely.

The Vice President, in fact, is skipping the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. today, July 22. When asked more than a week ago about the SONA, she said she was not attending and deadpanned: “I am appointing myself as the designated survivor.” It appears she is now more ready to talk with reporters. After turning over the reins of the department to Secretary Sonny Angara, she told them that her leaving the Marcos Cabinet was caused by a “long story” that was “personal.”

What she would not admit is that her resignation injected energy into a department that’s been burdened with seemingly intractable challenges. Neither would she concede that her absence at the SONA would also somehow liberate the President who, says Thought Leader Joey Salgado in this piece, should “cut through the fog of doubt and uncertainty over his capacity to lead” and “debunk the emerging narrative” that he is “incapacitated by the demands of the presidency and the din of contrarian voices from the South [in reference to the Dutertes].”

Hounded by allegations that he is weak and out of touch, Marcos knows that he needs to arrest the public’s growing disapproval of his leadership. The man who won big in the 2022 election still enjoys a significant political base but a diminished one. Three in four Filipinos think he is not doing enough to address their shrinking pockets and rising costs of commodities. Inflation continues to be a top concern for the majority. Poverty and few job opportunities are also the issues closest to women in Metro Manila. And Marcos’ ability to align various units on the West Philippine Sea issue has been put in doubt. “Ultimately, Marcos has to be clear and decisive about policy directives,” writes Rappler editor at large Marites Vitug in “Turning point: Aftermath of failed resupply mission to Ayungin.”

• What to expect at the SONA? Watch Rappler’s political reporters give us a walk-through.
• Here are our live updates.
• Bookmark this page to watch his speech today at 4 pm. We will begin our special coverage starting at 3 pm with former presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas, veteran journalist Inday Espina-Varona, and Rappler columnist John Nery. Watch the discussion and reports from the field here.
• Rappler’s community partners have kept track of Marcos’ promises, progress, and backlogs as he enters his third year in office. 
• For media groups, Marcos should push Congress to decriminalize libel, pass the freedom of information law, and institutionalize efforts to end red-tagging.
• A list of protests and activities.
• Join what promises to be a vibrant discussion on the Rappler Communities app. We will also be fact-checking the President’s pronouncements on the #FactsFirstPH channel.  

Meanwhile, it is best to be reminded of someone who also did not know when to leave — as far as his cozy ties with China are concerned: former president Rodrigo Duterte. Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros tells us the high price we had to pay for Duterte’s “unconditional love for China” in this piece.

See you later on Rapler’s pages for our SONA 2024 coverage! – Rappler.com

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