Phlippines election result: The votes are in – now the game of thrones between Marcos and Duterte begins again

Phlippines election result: The votes are in – now the game of thrones between Marcos and Duterte begins again
Mind, Jonathan

South East Asia journalist

Reporting fromManila
Getty Images Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte smiles and waves at the camera as she arrives in Manila on May 9, 2025. Getty Images

A game of thrones between the Philippines ‘ two most powerful families begins as the sound and color of a two-month election battle diminishes.

A terrible conflict and power struggle is raging between President Ferdinand” Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his vice-president Sara Duterte.

In the last presidential poll, which took place in 2022, they won overwhelmingly as friends.

However, this mid-term election has become a crucial indicator of the strength of these two democratic dynasties as their relationship has splintered- he accuses her of assassinating him, she accuses him of incompetence, and she claims she dreamed of decapitating him.

And the Marcos station received bad news from the outcomes. In the middle of the election, former presidents in the Philippines generally receive the majority of their picks for the congress. The power of political patronage is a major benefit, at least it has been in the previous.

This day, no.

Camille Villar, one of the twelve winning lawmakers, is just half in his tent because she also accepted Sara Duterte’s endorsement. Only six of the twelve senators are from the Marcos empire.

Imee Marcos, the government’s sister, is one of the lawmakers who are currently a member of the Duterte family. Two were in the bottom three votes cast, away of any Marcos contender.

This is a disappointing outcome for a leader in power right now.

A plain, statewide ballot is a good indicator of national mind, which is how senators are elected. The outcome was stifle the Marcos administration’s grip over its final three years of power, and it may cast doubt on Sara Duterte’s ability to withstand impeachment.

The Marcos-Duterte marriage has been deteriorating about since the beginning of their three-year management. However, it was only this year that it absolutely ruptured.

The government’s allies in Congress made the initial catastrophic error by starting the impeachment of the vice president.

Therefore, in March, President Marcos summoned Rodrigo Duterte, Sara’s father, to the International Criminal Court to encounter crimes against humanity for his brutal drug war. She has also been charged with her unlawful conduct by the police.

There were no boots. Sara Duterte’s ambitions to succeed Marcos in the upcoming vote may be ended by being impeached.

There is no denying that she is currently the pioneer, and that if she were to succeed, she would use the presidency’s authority to exact revenge on the Marcos.

However, two thirds of the 24-seat congress must vote for it before it can be prosecution, which is why this mid-term election was so important to both camps.

Getty Images Villagers stand in a queue and look for their name as they cast their vote at the school precinct during the 2025 midterm elections on May 12, 2025Getty Images

Politicians is a family-run endeavor in the Philippines. When a family has political power, it holds onto it and distributes it among the several years.

The Dutertes and Marcoses are located at the top of the tower, while there are about 200 wealthy individuals.

The Marcoses have been a political force for 80 times. From 1965 to 1986, the latest government’s father ruled, enforcing martial law, and plundering millions of dollars from the budget.

Isabel, Bongbong Marcos ‘ mom, who was in a chair at the age of 95, cast her ballot in this election, and not just for her footwear collection, is an even more well-known figure.

Due to her decision to leave the Trump tent, his sister Imee has been re-elected to the Senate.

His aunt Martin Romualdez is the speech of the lower apartment and a possible presidential candidate in 2028, which is probably why Bongbong Marcos was so determined to oust himself from the prosecution of Sara Duterte. Sandro is his eldest son, and he is a senator.

His wife’s aunt has been elected governor, his grandson has been elected vice-governor, and two other relatives have been elected as city council in the government’s home province of Ilocos Norte. Marcoses often triumphs, up it.

Similar things are said for the Dutertes in Davao, the country’s other-end of the island.

Past President Duterte ran for governor of Davao yet from his jail cell in The Hague, despite the fact that no one could see him in the form of a life-size cardboard cutouts.

However, his presence won’t matter because Sebastian, his brother, is now in charge of the vice-mayor’s position. Over the past 37 years, Davao’s politicians have been there for 34 of them.

The issue facing both tents is that the senators usually come from wealthy political families or are well-known in their own right; some candidates have media or business backgrounds.

They have their own passions and interests. There is no guarantee that they will remain faithful, particularly regarding the impeachment issue, even if they are actually associated with one or the other.

Lawmakers in the Philippines are extremely sensitive to the view of the nation because they act as vice president or presidents in waiting, according to Cleve Arguelles, a political scientist who runs WR Numero Research, a research firm that monitors public view.

They are constantly trying to read the public’s minds and to support public opinion because of their upcoming social goals, but they.

Getty Images Wearing a white linen shift, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr speaks into a microphone at a rally in front of the Philippine flagGetty Images

The government’s support has declined in recent months.

Bongbong Marcos has never been a charismatic common speech, and his strategy stage performances did much to improve his declining reputation.

His administration of the struggling economy receives small marks in opinion surveys, and the Duterte family views his detention and sending him to the International Criminal Court as a national treachery.

Sara Duterte performed an emotionally charged picture of the time her father was taken into custody at Manila’s international airports and flown to The Hague at an unexpected march in Tondo, a low-income neighborhood in Manila’s terminal area. She referred to this as an unjustifiable care of a still-famous former president.

She told the cheering group,” They didn’t really steal my uncle; they stole him from us.”

President Marcos ‘ senior sister Imee was also present, but Imee, who sided with the abduction and resigned, saying she was against it because she believed she could capitalize on Duterte’s popular support to win back her own republic chair.

It succeeded. Imee Marcos managed to scrape into the “magic twelve,” as they call the winning legislators from polling small throughout the majority of the plan.

It’s difficult to predict what will come next, but the Marcos party will undoubtedly face a challenging task of impeaching Sara Duterte.

Just a small number of the 24 legislators are vehemently loyal to the leader. The rest will have to be persuaded to agree with it, which didn’t remain simple.

This election has demonstrated that the Dutertes also enjoy robust public support in some areas, and some members of the Marcos election alliance have already publicly stated that they oppose the removal of the vice president. The same applies to the 12 senators who were unable to run for office this time.

The shock appointing of lawmakers Bam Aquino and Francis Pangilinan, both from the progressive wing of politicians, could provide a positive outcome for the leader.

Some polls had predicted their victories, which suggests that the public is interested in politicians outside the Marcos-Duterte conflict.

In the 2022 election, liberals were the primary means of opposition to the Marcos-Duterte group, but neither is a friend of the Marcos community.

They may be worried about his combative girl becoming chairman in 2028 because they were vehemently opposed to the strongman type of former President Duterte. They might choose to support prosecution based on that.

The prosecution trial is scheduled to begin in July. Both camps may be lobbying ferociously behind the scenes to get lawmakers onto their area, and the Dutertes can be expected to remain chipping away at the government’s damaged power in government.

In the Philippines, there has never been a successful impeachment of a president or vice president. No president or vice president has ever experienced such a conflict.

A turbulent year is forecast for this year.