As is the end of year tradition at Duty, we take you behind the scenes of major reports from our journalists. In 2023, Fabien Deglise traveled to the Philippines, notably meeting the cousin of the new president Marcos, who is not afraid of difficult questions, even if he does not always answer them.
The presence of human clusters outside the city hall of Laoag, the largest town in the Ilocos Norte region, in the north of the Philippines, suddenly added a level of uncertainty to the meeting with the mayor from the place: Michael Marcos Keon. It was last May, just a few minutes after an earthquake, a rather common occurrence on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which had forced the evacuation of the style building. Bahay na bató specific to the Spanish colonial era, and thus disrupted everyone’s agendas.
“Mr. Mayor should not delay any longer,” assured one of his assistants, at the agreed time of the meeting, while offering a bottle of water so that we could wait… a good two hours, in the end, before see the door to his office open.
Seated at the end of a long table cluttered with papers, this Marcos, cousin of the current President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was then at work, reading, signing, moving stacks of papers mounted in front of him and on which, by with just one look, he made it clear that he was going to remain bent over, regardless of the presence at his side now of a journalist and his many questions.
At first contact, the man could not have reinforced his legend better.
In the Marcos clan, Michael Marcos Keon is indeed the most singular and intriguing figure. During the 2022 presidential campaign which, to the surprise of the world, brought his cousin, nicknamed Bongbong by the Filipinos, to the head of the country, he was indeed very critical of this desire for succession. Since the victory of “junior”, with whom he would be in tension, he has put water in his wine.
He is also said to have been the favorite nephew of Marcos Sr., for whom he worked during the dictatorship as president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, a closeness that could have given rise to jealousies among other members of the family. “But you didn’t come this far to tell me about family stories,” he will ask, more amused than annoyed. “All families have the same. »
However, the answer was indeed yes, with the addition of a series of questions which would quickly set the tone for the meeting: “Is it possible to do politics in this region of the Philippines, if we do not is not a Marcos? ” He smiles. “Your mother was the first female governor here, from 1971 to 1983. You also held this position between 2007 and 2010.” And that’s not all: today, Bongbong’s son, Sandro, at 29 barely years old, is the local MP. The new president’s sister, Imee Marcos, is the senator of this family fiefdom, governed by the latter’s son, Matthew Manotoc. An enumeration, which, seen from a distance, can easily give the impression that the power, in which he participates, is subject to a certain form of corruption, we point out to him, emphasizing the word, certainly, but fearing a bit like the effect of the first notes delivered in this conversation beginning without too much care.
Even if the Filipinos are smiling, their country is among the most hostile towards journalists, freedom of the press and especially freedom of thought. Targeted attacks and harassment by the government are the daily lot of journalists and media outlets deemed too critical. Since last January, two colleagues have been killed there, two others thrown in prison on opportunistic charges.
On his t-shirt, the logo of the region’s firearms shooting club, Marcos Combat Shooters, adjacent to that of the municipality of Laoag, gave as much the spirit of the place as that of the character who, however far from being taking offense to the first question, will confront it with cultural explanations and invoke a disinterest of ordinary citizens in politics to justify this portrait. Then, he will move away from his papers a little, as if to show that he is ready to take more questions, not beating around the bush.
Geopolitical tensions
He will be served. After a detour on the atmosphere in family reunions, before and after the election of his cousin, it will then be a question of the authoritarian temptations of the new president, Bongbong, of which he must know whether or not there are “the seed of a dictator in him”? A silence. A smirk. And he will say: “He is not like his father, but he also knows how to be respected and get what he wants. »
After politics, family, corruption, the exchange will cast a wider net by probing its point of view on neighboring China, whose intimidation on the Philippine Sea has increased since Manila’s rapprochement with Washington, thus threatening trade relations that are nevertheless crucial for the region. “The Chinese wanted to build a pharmaceutical factory here. It’s complicated now,” he will say, his face less and less focused on his papers and more and more enlightened by a meeting he didn’t seem to expect. A mutual feeling. And the prospect of a “last question”, announced at the end of a good hour of discussion, will make him say: “It’s not over yet!” I’m sure you have more questions for me. »
A journalist always has some in reserve. We will then talk about Taiwan, the close neighbor a little further north, and the image of normality that its cousin tries to present on the international scene, in contradiction with the violence that it allows to continue against human rights activists. and several independent-minded journalists.
And then will come the theme of the environment, of which the mayor of Laoag has become one of the great defenders in the region. He launched several projects there aimed at combating an increasingly problematic drought for local agriculture, and even at protecting forest areas, of which he participated, with walking shoes on, in the quantification, recently. “It’s a unique heritage for biodiversity and for tourism,” he said.
Photo souvenir “
In front of him, the pile of paper had not really diminished during the nearly two hours of a conversation, letting his words and his new curiosities delay its end. An end that had to be achieved, with a request from the mayor to bring in his assistant and a camera, to “keep a memory” of this meeting.
“Are you in the region for much longer?” » he will then ask on the threshold of his office, before worrying about the comfort of the hotel chosen by the team of Dutyto judge the choice made and immediately ask a member of his team to immediately plan the reservation of two new rooms elsewhere, in “a friend’s hotel, closer to the city center”, he will say. he.
An attempt at corruption, according to the criteria in force in many countries, which will be easily dodged by a polite refusal fortunately reinforced by the absence of available rooms during this school vacation period then in the Philippines.
In the taxi heading to the next meeting, Lorela, the collaborator of the Duty on the ground, will emphasize that the “gift” of a new hotel room was ultimately nothing abnormal in politician/journalist relations in the Philippines. What was more important in her case was the request to take a photo within a protocol framework, she added. “You’re the third foreign journalist I’ve introduced to him in a year. And this is the first time he’s done this. »