In the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas’ first campaign sortie after the dramatic arrest, and subsequent turnover of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC), observers couldn’t help but point out that one member of the coalition was missing: the Nacionalista Party (NP) was absent in the Romualdez-Marcos bailiwick of Tacloban City.
Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister who at one point said she was withdrawing from the slate, made a splash by announcing her absence from the March 14 sortie in protest of Duterte’s arrest. Tacloban is their clan’s bailiwick as their mother, former first lady Imelda, hails from the Leyte town.
Her partymates — reelectionist Senator Pia Cayetano and House Deputy Speaker Camille Villar — did not announce plans to skip the Leyte sortie but were absent nonetheless.
“Representative Villar was sick and Senator Cayetano was stuck in Naga-Albay,” explained Alyansa campaign manager Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco, in a mix of English and Filipino.
Cayetano, based on posts from her official Facebook page, was barnstorming in Naga, Pili and Lezagpi City. Villar’s page has been quiet since March 11.
Makati Mayor Abigail Binay, a candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, made passing acknowledgement of the absence of the other women candidates in Tacloban, by joking that she was the most beautiful on stage — only because she was the lone woman candidate present, she added.
The NP is one of several parties that are part of the admin-backed Alyansa, a supergroup of most of the Philippines’ biggest political parties and clans.
The three NP senatorial bets are also members of powerful political clans — the Marcos clan of Ilocos Norte, Cayetano of Taguig City, and the Villars of Las Piñas (and the Senate).
All three clans have close ties with the Dutertes well.
The Marcoses — the President who gave the go signal for Duterte’s trip to The Hague included — were allied with the Davao-based clan, up until Vice President Sara Duterte left the Cabinet. Senator Cayetano’s brother, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, was Duterte’s 2016 vice presidential candidate then foreign affairs chief, then House Speaker.
Nacionalista is considered the base party of the Villars.
President Marcos himself was a member of NP and even won a Senate seat in 2010 under the party’s banner. The NP, however, did not endorse his and Cayetano’s 2016 vice presidential bid. Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who ran for the vice presidency too, did not get an endorsement as well at the time.
For the 2022 presidential race, Marcos officially exited the NP and joined Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. But the NP eventually did endorse Marcos’ candidacy.
Senator Mark Villar, one of two Villars in the Senate (their mother Senator Cynthia is the second one), was a constant in most of President Marcos’ early trips abroad as chief executive.
The Villars have certainly made their sentiments felt regarding former president Duterte’s arrest.
“Mr President, I hope that you are in good health and being treated well. I’m sad that your simple wish to be judged by the Filipino people did not reach fruition. I continue to pray that you will be given the fairness and compassion that all Filipinos deserve,” said the younger Senator Mark Villar in a post on Facebook, as he reflected on his time as Duterte’s public works secretary.
Patriarch and one-time presidential aspirant Manny Villar said he was “hurt” by Duterte’s arrest. His wife Senator Cynthia Villar said: “I don’t agree. We don’t give our former president to the foreigner.”
Even before Duterte’s arrest, senatorial candidates of Alyansa were careful to appease the core voters of both the Marcos and Duterte clans.
After all, the administration’s actions against another Duterte — the impeachment of the Vice President — were in the headlines just before the national campaign kickoff.
Alyansa bets have mostly managed to avoid having to pick a side or at least be explicitly against the Dutertes — even if the President himself has lambasted the past administration and its pro-China, pro-POGO, and pro-drug war policy.
President Marcos and Vice President Duterte have almost the same trust and performance ratings, based on the latest publicly available surveys held in late 2024.
Campaign experts point out that former president Duterte still has a strong endorsement power, even if he’s been mostly out of the public eye since stepping down in 2022.
Senate return aspirants Tito Sotto and Ping Lacson, have both admitted that it’s either difficult to articulate their thoughts on Duterte’s arrest or that it could affect them — especially in Duterte strongholds in Visayas and Mindanao.
But now that Marcos, his administration, and allies have dealt two major blows to the Dutertes, will the Alyansa’s party members and candidates eventually have to make a choice? – Bea Cupin/Rappler.com