Keep policy in focus amid ‘warring’ dynasties — analysts

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE ACADEME and media should step up and steer the political conversation on key policy issues faced by Filipinos instead of the deepening political feud between the Marcoses and Dutertes, political analysts said, as the 2025 national midterm elections fast approaches.

Filipinos have nothing to gain from the feud as the warring factions are only concerned with consolidating political power, with policy agenda being sidelined in favor of incendiary remarks and personal attacks, they added.

“The sad thing here is that our political discussions revolve around what is happening with these warring dynasties… Other stakeholders should be stepping up, like academic institutions, media institutions, non-governmental organizations, and even political parties,” Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo De Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat at the weekend.

“They should never allow these dynastic quarrels to dominate the discussion. Stakeholders should assert their concerns and issues, like what should be done with the economy, education crisis, food security,” he added.

The campaigns of both the Marcoses and Dutertes would likely focus on personality politics, Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo, said in a separate Facebook chat. “I don’t really see these campaigns being about policies.”

The unwillingness of the voting public to discuss “civic, political, and economic rights” is at fault for the country’s perennial “basic governance issues,” he added. “It’s a fundamental failure of our overall political education situation.”

The May 2025 midterm elections will take place amid the collapse of the UniTeam alliance that delivered landslide votes that elected Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s as president, and his running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio as vice president.

Their relationship has since turned sour as the Marcos administration launched investigations against former president Rodrigo R. Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign and the Office of the Vice President’s controversial confidential and intelligence fund.

POLITICAL FALL OUT
The falling out was the result of the electoral coalition failing to transition into the current administration, Mr. Aguirre said. “When the government was being formed, the legislative coalition, headed by Romualdez, merged with the new government coalition of Marcos Jr. The Duterte bloc was not able to keep up with these changes.”

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Mr. Marcos’ cousin, has reins over the House of Representatives, serving as the chamber’s leader since 2022.

“The rift… is just a result of insecurities and uneasiness of both camps,” he added.

There is more at stake from the Marcos-Duterte feud for ordinary Filipinos as they both could “determine the form of governance and citizen-to-citizen relations” of Philippine society should one of them emerge victorious, Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, a political science professor at the De La Salle University, said in a Facebook chat.

“What makes this feud distinct from the usual ‘guns, goons, and gold’ is that it puts the core political values of Filipinos at stake,” he said.

“I don’t think this supposed rivalry can be compared to any previous political rivalries,” Edmund Tayao, president of Political Economic Elemental Researchers and Strategists, said in a Viber message. “At least, say from Quezon-Roxas, to Garcia-Yulo-Macapagal, to Marcos-Aquino, the rivalry was there at the outset and there were clear issues that divided them.”

“Today’s rivalry is purely personal. Exchanges have even gone to gutter language that’s very much incomparable to previous political exchanges,” he added.

Ms. Carpio, during a two-hour press conference on Oct. 18, hurled statements against the Marcoses, including threats to behead Mr. Marcos and exhume the body of his father to be thrown in the South China Sea.

UNLIKELY TO CONVERT
Independent and opposition candidates would find it difficult to directly challenge the Marcoses and Dutertes despite the two being preoccupied with their squabble, Mr. Borja said, citing that Filipinos are not keen on voting for political outsiders.

“A large majority is behind the UniTeam and they will not look kindly on any outsider,” he said, referring to the electoral coalition formed by the Marcoses and Dutertes in the 2022 elections. “In other words, even if supporters of the UniTeam attack each other and withhold votes for concerned candidates, this tendency will not necessarily translate into support for perceived outsiders.”

Opposing candidates should look at getting votes by strategizing around the habit of Filipino voters to “mix-and-match” their ballots, he added. “Whatever the strategy is, the goal is to slip into the mix-and-matching habit of ordinary Filipino voters.”

They should also employ creative campaign strategies to compete against the political mainstays, according to Mr. Juliano.

“We have an economically vulnerable and disconnected population, that the calculus of electoral support cannot but be monetized or made in clientelistic terms unless the campaign is smart enough,” he said.