ILOCOS NORTE, Philippines — In a campaign event that featured senatorial candidates dancing the budots, reminiscing on the post-Martial Law years, and addressing talk of family feuds, it was still President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s campaign pitch that stole the show at the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas proclamation rally on Tuesday, February 11.
Marcos, who three years ago won the Philippine presidency on the promise of unity, sought none of that this time around.
Flanked by his 12 anointed bets and surrounded by fellow Ilokanos who have stayed loyal to his clan through the years, the President framed the 2025 elections as a choice between the Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) that his administration envisions or a step back to the Philippines of his immediate predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
“Tayo ngayon ay nasa sangandaan ng ating paglalakbay bilang isang malayang bansa, bilang isang sambayanang may dangal, may sipag, at may talino,” said Marcos, reading off a prepared speech.
(We are at a crossroads in our journey as a free nation, as a nation with dignity, industriousness, and intellect.)
The red-clad crowdalternated between cheers and rapt attention. This was, after all, Laoag City in Ilocos Norte, where a Marcos could do no wrong.
Marcos went on to make barely-veiled references to the policies of Duterte, asking an audience of supporters if they wanted to return to a time when leaders wanted the Philippines to be a province of China, when the country was “sold out” to be a gambling place for foreigners, or a “path where the blood” of innocent children overflowed.
Domestically, Duterte was most infamous for his bloody drug war and his unfulfilled promise to rid the Philippines of illegal drugs and crime in “three to six months.”
Duterte’s foreign policy translated into acquiescence to China, in the name of making the Asian superpower his — and supposedly the Philippines’ — friend. The kowtowing meant not asserting a 2016 Arbitral Award that affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. It also meant opening the country to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs, later found to be hubs for human rights abuses and scams among others.
Marcos had taken a tough stance against China, especially in the West Philippine Sea. He has promised a “bloodless” drug war — although human rights advocates say this is still not the case. He also banned POGO operations in the country.
The President then concluded, “Walang nagnanais na Pilipino na mabalik tayo sa ganyang klaseng pagpatakbo.” (No Filipino wants to return to that kind of governance.)
Drawing lines, 3 years in
It was a kind of rhetoric rarely heard from Marcos, known to friends and allies as rarely confrontational.
But it is that is rhetoric also expected — and even necessary — from a chief executive in the midst of a huge political upheaval right at the midway point of his term: the impeachment of his erstwhile ally and 2022 running mate Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president.
Marcos’ reference to the Duterte years did not end there.
After making his case on the wide governance experience of his slate — a predictable mix of reelectionists, Senate return aspirants, and political clan scions — Marcos then drew comparisons between his candidates and those of their rivals, including rival reelectionists.
The President said his candidates did not:
- have blood on their hands because of Tokhang
- steal “sacks” of money, take advantage of the pandemic, and let Filipinos get sick and die
- clap for China and seemed pleased to see the Philippine Coast Guard water cannoned, Filipino fisherfolk harassed, and Philippine islands stolen
- act as followers of a “false prophet” wanted for abusing children and women
- “champion crime hubs where women were violated, such as the POGO”
Among the rival PDP-Laban’s Senate bets is reelectionist Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, former police chief of the Duterte administration whose brainchild was Oplan Tokhang. Reelectionist senator Bong Go was Duterte’s chief aide in Malacañang. Apollo Quiboloy, spiritual adviser to Duterte, is detained in the Philippines over charges of sexual abuse of a minor, child abuse, and qualified trafficking in two separate courts.
Quiboloy is also wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation over sexual abuse and human trafficking charges.
When the President speaks of hands free from the bloodshed of Duterte’s drug war, he may have only meant literally. After all, under the 17th and 18th Congress that spanned Duterte’s presidency, it was only a very small minority of opposition lawmakers who dared openly question the drug war.
With legislators either unwilling or unable to question the policy, the drug war unfolded mostly unchecked. Government figures estimate the number of individuals killed in police operations at over 7,000. Human rights groups estimate much more — up to 30,000, to include people killed by vigilante groups and even cops in the name of the drug war.
Duterte’s China policy also did not see much resistance in Congress, and neither did POGOs.
The shift in Marcos’ stance towards Duterte and his policies have come so swiftly that it becomes almost easy to forget that once upon a time, he wanted the former president to be his 2022 running mate.
12-0?
Midterm elections are typically seen as a referendum on the incumbent administration — a narrative that could go either way for Malacañang, depending on external factors like the price of goods or internal issues like the end of the once-vaunted Uniteam coalition with the Dutertes.
It makes sense for Marcos, the incumbent, to frame the polls not as a check on his leadership but as a choice between what he’s offering now and what had come before.
An “anyone-but-Duterte” coalition will also need the numbers in the Senate for a more short-term reason: the impeachment trial of the Vice President.
Because it’s the administration coalition, Marcos’ Alyansa had no difficulty attracting candidates who have done well in early preference polling. Marcos made it a point to poke fun at rivals who could not muster a complete 12-member slate.
“Naaawa rin po kung minsan sa ating mga katunggali dahil nagmamakaawa para makakuha ng mga malalakas at magagaling na kandidato. ‘Di tulad ng iba karampot lang ang kandidato,” he said. (I feel bad for our rivals because they have to beg to get strong and capable candidates. Others barely have any candidates.)
Pulse Asia’s latest survey indicated that 10 of the 12 candidates in the administration lineup are “winnable,” including Marcos’ sister Senator Imee Marcos, who once lagged behind in the same surveys.
Political power — and the ability to mobilize crowds in their bailiwicks — is another message Marcos and the administration coalition want to project.
After Laoag, Marcos and the Alyansa slate will be holding proclamation rallies in Iloilo City, Carmen in Davao del Norte, then in Pasay City. First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos has Negrense roots while Davao del Norte is the home province of Marcos’ close friend, Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo Jr.
Marcos is poised to join most, if not all, of the coalition’s campaign sorties. – Rappler.com