The date was January 17, 2021. Red China’s Wuhan Virus was raging in the Philippines, no thanks to travel between the two countries left unrestricted by the Sinophile Rodrigo Duterte. A birthday bash of celebrity events host Tim Yap at Camp John Hay in Baguio City turned controversial.
Videos and photos circulating online showed guests without facemasks and face shields. The draconian rules set out by Duterte that forced the Filipino proletariat to buy these at marked up prices from Pharmally corporation with connections to the druglord-adviser Michael Yang, was blatantly violated. In Tim Yap’s name-dropping party, there were no pandemic regulations. Among the guests were His Honor the Mayor Benjamin Magalong and his wife Arlene Saneo Magalong.
Magalong not only disgraced the position of Baguio City mayor. At that time, Duterte had appointed him with the absurdly sounding rank of “Contact Tracing Czar” of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. The Czar Magalong was caught in flagrante delicto soft on a lavish party that could have been prohibited because of the potential contacts to spread the Wuhan Virus.
Duterte’s response was reported by the official newswire service of the Philippine government: “PRRD still trusts Magalong despite birthday bash gaffe.” The virtual announcement was uttered by the Palace’s favorite spokesperson Harry Roque, the now fugitive from law.
With that kind of nationally announced defense not reserved for the toiling Filipino masses ordered to follow his rules, Duterte favored Magalong. The Czar-Mayor’s response showed the classic Magalong double-face we now see. He announced that the City’s legal officer was already investigating the incident — exempting of course the mayor as the No. 1 law enforcer of Baguio City.
That was the second favor Duterte bestowed on Magalong. After Magalong’s retirement from the Philippine National Police on December 15, 2016, Duterte appointed him to the board of directors of the Philippine National Oil Company on January 5, 2018. This despite the fact that Magalong was employed confortably as senior vice president for operations of Steel Asia, one of the largest steel manufacturers in Asia. Compensation in state-owned corporations include separate per diem for board meetings, committee meetings, and travel.
When he aspired for Baguio City mayor in the elections of 2019, Magalong then sculpted his image as a good governance warrior. Let us evaluate how he fares on his self-ascription.
One context would be his background. In 2019 when he was already city mayor, Magalong testified in the Senate on the investigation of the “ninja cops” in Pampanga who made off with about 160 kilograms of shabu worth P648 million. He accused then Chief of the Philippine National Police Oscar Albayalde of blocking the dismissal of 13 cops involved in an irregular drug raid. Magalong claimed that some of the cops profited financially from the raid.
But the raid he was referring to happened in 2013. Yet in 2019, there already were red flags for the Duterte regime: police extrajudicial killings, financial rewards from Duterte for police kill quotas, cops involved in the drug trade, the P6.4 billion shabu shipment of the Davao Group intercepted by the Bureau of Customs – all of which were abundantly recorded by the world during the time of Duterte. Magalong was tangibly quiet while his own organization the PNP was being mutilated by Duterte. Eerily quiet.
In the run-up to the May 2025 elections, Magalong raised the arm of Bong Go, the photo of which was widely circulated online. Asked by the Mountain Beacon, Magalong explained that, “the gesture was a sign of gratitude for the assistance the city received during the previous administration.” That was very lame. Then quickly, he added he was politically independent, that he had no political patrons.
Yet he also said the so-called Malasakit Centers proved “critical assistance” during the pandemic. But it is budol to say that Malasakit Centers are Go’s. These centers are state funded, a legislated one-stop version of past medical aids from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and other agencies. The money for the Malasakit Centers does not come from Bong Go.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes is baffled by Magalong’s sudden projection as an expert of good governance in this time of the flood control public works scandal. “In the year 2022, Mayor Benjie Magalong told me who the people were behind the P36 billon rock-netting scam in Baguio and Benguet. The question now is – why did he not reveal this until now? Is he afraid or is he an ally of the Dutertes?”
The many who believe he is a Duterte ally cannot be faulted. In Karmina Constantino’s Kwentuhang Bayan interview of Magalong, she asked him: “Do you have regrets that you supported Duterte?” “Never. Never. I don’t regret supporting him. He was very genuine with me. I did not see any pretensions in him.”
“There was transparency under Duterte.”
In his latest interview this Sept. 2 on The Newsmaker on NewswatchPlus, Magalong gave another reason for us to doubt him. Asked about the current Senate and House investigations on the flood control public works mess, he said, “The Senate investigation is better than the House’s.” Say that again? At that time, its short-lived chair Rodante Marcoleta who was openly ignoring any reference to public works projects during the Duterte administration headed the senate’s. That is what Magalong also prefers.
The public conclusion is rational and logical: at the very least, Magalong is selective. At his worst, he is not a truth-seeker because of his bias for Duterte and his tendency to obstruct justice for the crimes of Duterte.
What explains his softness and his blinders, and worse his fake persona? Magalong ends his third term as mayor in 2028. He could eye for a national post such as senator. The “good governance warrior” would be his most enticing marketing. He has aligned himself with the Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) where he is listed as a founding member.
Vico Sotto is also a founding member. Leni Robredo is a member. But the roster of mayors includes many dynasts. Dynastism is never good governance by any twist of the imagination. It is prohibited by the Constitution. And we all know why there is no enabling law to it – a high majority of congressmen and senators are dynasts. A politician governed by ethics cannot be a dynast. To be a dynast is both unethical and a scandal.
M4GG gives Magalong public relations, helped no less by Harvey Keh. Remember Keh? In one of the most savage moments in the impeachment court that tried Chief Justice Renato Corona, Keh was the one most severely chastised by Miriam Defensor Santiago. At that time, Keh was lead convenor of the Kaya Natin Movement. Keh presented himself to the court with what he claimed were incriminating documents but sourced from anonymous sources.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to Keh: “I am ordering you to show cause why you should not be cited in contempt by this impeachment court.”
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago to Keh: “Who is Mr. Anonymous? Because I want to ask the PNP and the AFP to issue an arrest order against him. And you’re head of something that promotes good governance?”
And that, folks, is the good governance adviser of the “good governance warrior.” What kind of good governance are you promoting, Mr. Magalong? We ask because you cannot mislead the Filipino public with what appears now to be your improvised prestige. We do not see your moral compass.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
