The raging spat between the two most powerful political dynasties in the Philippines isn’t showing signs of letting up.
As one political observer noted, the fight between the camps of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and erstwhile ally Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio has reached a point of no return.
“This is now a fight to the finish,” former congressman Barry Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez, who served as spokesperson to former vice-president Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, was quoted by the South China Morning Post following a tirade unleashed by Duterte against the Marcos.
Duterte-Carpio, daughter of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, held a free-flowing press conference on October 17, 2024 and attacked the president.
Among others, she said that Marcos is not fit for the office and lacks leadership.
She even threatened to exhume the remains of Marcos’s father and ex-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and throw them in the South China Sea.
Duterte-Carpio also said that she had thought of cutting off the head of the current president.
In the South China Morning Post report of journalist Raissa Robles, former congressman Gutierrez said that the vice-president has now “drawn the lines between the two sides more clearly”.
“There is no going back after this,” Gutierrez said.
Marcos and Duterte-Carpio ran as a ticket as part of the UniTeam alliance, and swept the presidency and vice-presidency, respectively, in a landslide victory in the 2022 national elections.
However, the alliance soon showed signs of fraying over a range of issues, from foreign policy to national concerns like the bloody drug war waged by Duterte-Carpio’s father during his term from 2016 to 2022.
The feud led to the resignation of Duterte-Carpio from the Marcos cabinet in June 2024.
Meanwhile, Marcos has hinted of possible reconciliation with Robredo, whom he defeated in the 2022 election for the president.
It may also be recalled that Marcos lost to Robredo in the 2016 election, when the two ran for vice-president.
On October 17, 2024, Marcos and Duterte shook hands after the inauguration of a sports arena in Sorsogon, home province of Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
Escudero said he invited Robredo to welcome Marcos as a representative of the Bicol region.
“For me, it’s symbolic because we gathered at a sports arena… As they say in politics, we should remember the spirit of sportsmanship, following the rules and regulations, and graciously accepting whoever wins the medal, or in this case, the election,” Escudero said in mixed Filipino and English.
“I believe this is the first step toward healing any wounds or misunderstandings. Our debates were political, not personal. It’s easier to heal from that than from personal conflicts,” Escudero added.
For his part, President Marcos indicated that he feels very happy about what he described as a “political reconciliation” between him and Robredo.
In a speech in Malacanang on October 18, Marcos acknowledged Escudero for facilitating the meeting between him and Robredo.
It was the first time that Marcos and Robredo were seen in public together following the 2022 presidential election.
“Senate President Escudero, who has taken a very important step towards political reconciliation yesterday – well done. I’m so happy you did that,” Marcos said.
For her part, Robredo described her meeting with Marcos as a courtesy for a visitor and a show of respect to the Office of the President.
“For me, it is not an issue. In fact, it was a show of respect to the position,” Robredo said in an interview with dzRH radio station.
ABS-CBN quoted a social media post by sociologist Athena Charanne Presto about the Marcos-Duterte-Carpio feud.
“This public fallout is only bound to escalate. It exposes the fragility of political alliances when there’s no real governance vision,” Presto said.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan president Renato Reyes Jr. also weighed in through a social media post.
Reyes said that the UniTeam of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio is “all about political expediency”.
Meanwhile, lawyer and political analyst Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior research fellow with the Ateneo School of Government, said on Teleradyo Serbisyo that the tension .
Yusingco said tension is likely going to escalate in the lead-up to the 2025 midterm and 2028 presidential elections.
Yusingco said that the country might see “an epic battle between two powerful dynasties”.
By Carlito Pablo
