Philippine V-P quits Cabinet, ending Marcos-Duterte alliance

Analysts say move signals Sara Duterte’s interest in running for president in 2028

- Mara Cepeda

The much-vaunted alliance of the Philippines’ two most powerful political dynasties is no more.

Vice-President Sara Duterte’s resignation from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s Cabinet on June 19 is the final nail in the coffin that will break up the Marcos-Duterte union less than a year before the May 2025 mid-term polls.

It is also the first shot signalling Ms Duterte’s bigger political ambitions going forward, political observers say. The possibilities include Ms Duterte becoming an opposition leader fielding her own slate against Mr Marcos in the mid-term elections in 2025 and beyond that, gunning for the presidency in 2028.

With her resignation, Ms Duterte is now free to position herself as an opposition figure against her erstwhile ally, said ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute fellow Aries Arugay.

“Their power-sharing agreement was not feasible because of many factors, like significant policy differences. But this also has something to do with the Marcoses not being able to really give the concessions that the Dutertes thought they earned or they deserved because they helped catapult the Marcoses into power,” he told The Straits Times.

Mr Marcos and Ms Duterte may end up endorsing different sets of candidates in next year’s mid-term polls, when Filipinos vote for half of the members of the Senate and other local posts down to the village level, added Dr Arugay.

Ms Duterte could upset Mr Marcos’ agenda in his last four years of office if more candidates allied with her win during the mid-term polls, political science professor Jean Encinas-Franco from the University of the Philippines told ST.