[OPINION] The Marcos-Duterte spectacle is misdirecting us all—and we shouldn’t allow it
I miss who I was in 2022.
I remember how bright-eyed I was, casting my first-ever ballot; how easily I bought into the idea of a brand new Philippines, with a capable president repairing all damage left by the previous administration. At that time, I had yet to experience leadership under someone I completely respected—and two years later, that dream has never felt more out of reach.
Following an endless series of public attacks, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte’s feud reached a fever pitch over the past week, as she made an "active threat" to the life of her 2022 elections running mate during a midnight Zoom press conference on Nov. 23. Not only is this an affront to our democracy, but an insult to the Filipino people they’re meant to represent. This behavior is not aligned with the shared values and culture we’ve upheld for generations.
Had this event happened during the height of the previous campaign season, my generation would be brandishing their proverbial pitchforks by now. But our current weapon of choice seems to be sarcasm. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve seen “O eto kutsilyo, magsaksakan kayo!” on my social media feeds. Others have chosen not to take part in the fight at all.
Research group Octa finds that 11% consider themselves undecided or ambivalent towards the feud of our highest-ranking public officials, while 31% of Filipinos now identify as independent—a telltale sign that many of us are growing alienated by the turn of events. Sadly, it appears this is just what they want to see.
It’s easy to ascribe bida-kontrabida roles to the characters of this political teleserye, but it looks like both camps are benefitting from the ongoing situation. Channeling the spirit of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, VP Sara delivered a lethal one-two punch of misdirection and intimidation to steer attention away from her issues.
Think about it: Without looking at a cheat sheet or pulling up good ol’ Google search, do you remember when her fallout with the President began? Was it her alleged misuse of funds for her office’s socioeconomic programs, or her refusal to cooperate in panel investigations probing into her expenses? Perhaps it was her general incompetence as our former Secretary of Education? Can we even remember when the whole “shimenet” incident happened?
Both parties are master manipulators, warping the concept of justice and truth for their personal gain... We have to remember that taking a side or even choosing not to doesn’t harm the Marcoses and Dutertes in any way. Unfortunately for us, these dynasties will remain protected and in positions of power.
But while public psychotic episodes might have worked for former president Duterte and even US president Donald Trump, Sara's threats have landed her a subpoena straight from the National Bureau of Investigation. This created the perfect conditions for Marcos to slip into the role of the underdog like a second skin. After crafting a calculated three-minute message rife with biting criticism, social media users were quick to brand him as the bigger person and even the victim of the situation. Cementing this facade might just be the final step in his well-documented efforts to rehabilitate the family name and erase the crimes committed against the Filipino people.
Both parties are master manipulators, warping the concept of justice and truth for their personal gain. This tactic is especially popular among what Sergei Guriev and Daniel Tresiman call spin dictators: political figures who warp information to “shape public opinion and create popular support, all while [...] evading violent and direct repression.”
Seeing Marcos speak against extrajudicial killings is a particularly chilling example of the pot calling the kettle black. So is Sara’s statement on the presidential family’s involvement in Benigno Aquino’s assassination, or her supporters’ rally at the foot of the People Power Monument. (Personally, advocates of a merciless war on drugs should be forbidden from desecrating the site of a peaceful revolution.) If either party truly cared, these issues would have been addressed long before or even taken up in court. Yet, they only have each other to blame for their rise to power.
To make matters worse, publicizing their fight when this issue could easily be settled in private seems to be the perfect diversionary tactic for their collective failures. In case you missed it: Inflation rates have risen once again, the Philippine peso hit a historic low against the US dollar, and China continues to endanger our sovereignty. But these headlines aren’t taking up enough real estate in our brains for us to interrogate their root cause. Instead, our short attention spans and interest in public scandal have only made us easier to mislead.
“Voter anger causes politics to move beyond a competition of ideas and philosophies and into a zero-sum game in which each side’s gain is the other’s loss,” political science professor Steven Webster tells The Conversation. “That weakens people’s commitment to democratic norms and values, such as tolerance and a respect for minority opinions.” In a time when our energies are limited, it’s understandable that some choose to temporarily step away from the issue. Thinking about our predicament for longer than we should can send us into a spiral.
As former senator Leila de Lima said on X, “Such behavior, especially from someone in a position of authority, disrupts the proper functioning of our institutions and weakens trust in the system.” True enough, what good is due process for if a culture of impunity still prevails? If our own elected officials display such blatant disregard for the tenets of the law, then why should these rules even apply to us? How can we respect one another when other countries think we are being run by savages?
But we have to remember that taking a side or even choosing not to doesn’t harm the Marcoses and Dutertes in any way. Unfortunately for us, these dynasties will remain protected and in positions of power. Case in point: Although VP Sara has not defended herself convincingly against the allegations being leveled against her, Senator Joel Villanueva and some of his colleagues are already proposing to increase the Office of the Vice President’s 2025 budget by P100 million to 150 million.
So as long as our higher-ups are determined to tear each other down, the welfare of the ordinary Filipino will inevitably have to take the backseat. I’m not going to pretend like I know where to go from here but one thing’s for sure: If we can’t join the fight with the same energy and bravado as before, we should at the very least keep watching. If our officials see that we’ve stopped caring, they can get away with fracturing our democracy. If we turn away, we fail to see who their fake narratives might be harming. If we close our eyes, the time will come when we won’t be able to tell who our real enemies are.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of PhilSTAR L!fe, its parent company and affiliates, or its staff.