They have found a common enemy
Perhaps, one could think as far back as why Emilio Aguinaldo’s men killed Andres Bonifacio and Antonio Luna. The Filipino virtue utang-na-loob (sense of gratitude) seems to be unknown to politicians. Whereas the electorate will look up to their leaders with a sense of indebtedness, it is not the case for politicians. They simply use each other as a means to an end.
Likewise, when former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. exposed the mishaps in the Project Merdeka in his Senate privilege speech in 1968, thinking it will elevate him into the good light as the opposition leader against former president Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., but by doing so, he betrayed the Filipino nation and the Sultan of Sulu by divulging such crucial information involving national security.
Fernando Lopez, Sr. was former president Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.’s running mate in two presidential elections (1965 and 1969), in which Marcos Sr. benefited a lot in the campaigns for the favorable media mileage as the Lopezes are owners of the media conglomerate ABS-CBN. But when Marcos Sr. seized power in 1972, he shut down the operations of the TV network that had been critical of its reportage and removed the Vice President's position, disregarding his past alliance with Lopez.
It is good to recall the 2.3 billion worth (US$) Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was completed though anomalously during Marcos Sr.’s corrupt regime in 1984 but was put to waste by the succeeding Aquino government alleging its hazard risks. You see, the country has been a place of things and stories like this, squandering not only resources but also the future of the nation.
The Present
In 2015, Bongbong Marcos, then a senator, personally came to Davao to convince then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte to become his presidential running-mate, but he was refused by the latter, who chose instead to tandem with another candidate. In 2021, then-presidential daughter Sara Duterte finally agreed to tandem with Bongbong Marcos in a meeting in Cebu with Imee Marcos. Indeed, Team Unity was formed and successfully made it in the 2022 elections. But this didn’t last long since in 2024, petitions for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte were in place.
Fast forward to the 2025 mid-term elections, some senatorial candidates who previously aligned with and have won under Sara Duterte’s political party Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) have now sided with the current president Marcos, Jr.’s senatorial slate. Civil society groups that were previously critical of the Marcoses’ return to power have become the new puppets of the current Marcos administration.
Money and political favor over personal alliance. The Philippine political show is highly loaded with vultures scavenging on critical issues, criticizing the previous administration, and disguising their vested interests as matters of national concern. Those who were critical of the martial law regime have suddenly transformed to a blind eye and zipped mouths. Even liberal party supporters like Richard Heydarian and Sonny Trillanes entertain an unholy alliance with the Marcos administration.
They have found a common enemy in President Duterte. Now, as of this writing, hundreds of Filipinos have welcomed former President Duterte in Rotterdam, chanting in the streets. Right here, people shout and post online, “Bring him home!” A solid crowd support abroad has never been seen in Marcos Jr.’s administration. The former president, with his funny jokes and sarcasm, has captured the hearts of overseas Filipino workers. Touchdown in the Netherlands! The world is watching Duterte again. He is back in the global limelight.
The current Philippine President, Bongbong Marcos, has turned over his own citizen to an international court. Is that even a good move itself? This is very clearly a political persecution. The Filipino nation is not in a war, and our judiciary systems are well functioning. Are we surrendering our own national sovereignty? Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc, author of Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte, says that the former Resident has already been judged by the Western world. Marcos allowed his arrest because he knows Duterte doesn't have any leverage.
What is happening is ridiculous. It has again divided the nation. This toxic political culture is common now among Filipinos, especially influencers and trolls from both sides who seem to ignore what real and meaningful democratic discourse is about. I have read many ad hominems even among academicians who cannot find an original argument in support of their cause as they express their emotions against the former President who reasonably so has left a big mark in the country's history.
- Menelito Mansueto is a Professor at MSU-IIT and author of Decolonial Turn in the Philippine South
