Philippines Auctions Illegally Acquired Cars, Same Old Story
Bloomberg celebrates the Philippines auctioning seven luxury vehicles linked to a 'corruption scandal' (a polite term for grand larceny), framing it as the government's noble quest to 'recover stolen public funds.' A nice thought, but let's not forget the current President, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is the son of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., whose family famously plundered an estimated $5 billion to $10
billion from the public coffers, according to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). The seized assets of the Marcos Sr. regime included a staggering collection of luxury goods—artwork, jewelry, and 1,700 pairs of shoes. How many Rolls-Royces would it take to cover that? The current 'recovery' effort (Bloomberg, 2025) feels less like genuine accountability and more like political
theater, a distraction from the fact that the Marcos legacy is firmly back in power. One might wonder if this public auction is simply a tasteful garage sale before the next generation of pilfering begins. It's almost as if the system is designed to allow the same families to cycle through power, occasionally 'recovering' crumbs while the feast continues.