MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. does not want voters to think of what his government has done — or has failed to do — for this year’s polls.
Instead, he wants the Filipino people to consider whether they want to go back to the past administration — one led by Rodrigo Duterte and its history with killings and corruption. (READ: Marcos frames 2025 polls as ‘crossroads’: ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ or pro-China, bloody past?)
That’s his messaging as his picks for the Senate kicked off their campaign for the upcoming midterm polls.
“Maybe it is a strategic decision on the part of Marcos to, in fact, shape the elections as a referendum on the Duterte [administration] and use those three issues — corruption, China, and EJKs (extrajudicial killings) — as a way to finally defeat the Dutertes,” veteran journalist and columnist John Nery said in Rappler’s In the Running.
Rappler senior reporter Bea Cupin — who covered the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign rally at Ilocos Norte — said Marcos was painting the upcoming polls in a way that the Philippines would be seen as a country at crossroads.
“So far, what he wants to do is to frame the elections as a choice between the current Philippines — ‘yung ‘Bagong Pilipinas‘ niya (his ‘New Philippines’) — or the past, which he has painted as a pro-China past, a past where leaders have their hands bloodied from the drug war, a past where… very specific siya (he was very specific), corruption from the pandemic, hindi lang corruption in general,” Cupin said.
It could also be Marcos’ strategy to present himself and his slate as the lesser evil. “This is a way of getting those votes that they were not able to get in the previous national elections,” said John Sitchon, Rappler’s Regions reporter for Visayas.
Halfway through their administration, Marcos and former ally Vice President Sara Duterte broke their political alliance that was formed for the 2022 national elections.
Duterte, the daughter of Marcos’ immediate predecessor, has since resigned from her Cabinet post and was impeached by the House of Representatives filled with Marcos allies. She herself has been tangled with controversy with the confidential funds fiasco at the Department of Education.
What Marcos has failed to talk about so far is gut issues. Herbie Gomez, Rappler’s regions editor, noted that bringing it up might backfire for the president who has so far failed to deliver on his campaign promises, which include lowering the price of rice.
“Sinisingil siya ngayon (They’re asking that from him now),” Gomez said.
Cupin pointed out that the Filipino public is not satisfied with how the government is addressing rising consumer prices. In a recent Social Weather Stations survey, 58% of respondents said the government’s efforts to curb inflation was “definitely insufficient and somewhat insufficient.”
Despite this, Marcos has chosen three sticky issues close to the heart of the Filipino.
“These three issues actually have a large base. The one major issue that Duterte was not able to convince the public on was his pivot to China — even throughout his presidency, three-fourths of Filipinos said we need to be more assertive,” Nery said.
“EJKs, we have a divided country — people like what was happening but at the same time, they thought that they would be the next victim and so on… so it also has traction. Corruption… people would say they want to fight against corruption,” he added. “I think Marcos is waging war against the Dutertes through his senatorial candidates or at least his senatorial campaign.” – Rappler.com