From Ilocos Norte to Iloilo, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. carried his pride for his anointed Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatoriables, although with a little bragging here and there.
Apart from pointing out the slates’ vast leadership experience, the chief executive made it a point to inject rhetoric meant not only to catch his political opponents off-guard, but also highlight “stark differences.”
“Wala sa kanila ang may bahid ng dugo dahil sa tokhang…wala sa kanila ang mga pumapalakpak sa China at natutuwa pa kapag tayo ay ibinobomba ng tubig,” Marcos said in his speech during the campaign rallies.
(None of them are stained with blood because of tokhang…none of them applaud China and are even happy when we are water bombed.)
It’s clear enough that these were meant for the senatorial aspirants under Rodrigo Duterte’s wing, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban), but what’s interesting is how, for some of Marcos’ chosen candidates, his statements were more “praise” than outright mudslinging. They just went on and took the bull by the horns. (WATCH | Rappler Recap: Duterte magic in 2025 polls? Ex-president blasts Marcos for ‘falling short’)
We’re the candidates here
On Tuesday, February 11, the same Alyansa slate vowed in an Ilocos Norte presser to shun “negative” campaigning, preferring to, as what senatorial bet Panfilo Lacson put it, “not do unto others what one doesn’t want others done unto them.”
“Hindi naman kandidato si presidente (He’s not even a candidate),” former Senate president Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said during a press conference in Iloilo City on Thursday, February 13.
What they meant by no negative campaigning, Sotto clarified, applied only to the candidates running for the senatorial position and not their boss, the elected president of the country.
There’s a lot of déjà vu going on with the “no negative campaigning” rhetoric. Recall that In the 2022 national elections, candidates took multiple swipes at each other which also reflected on the polarizing tweets of their supporters online.
Back then, Marcos’ former spox and now-critic Vic Rodriguez, said in a Reuters article that the then-presidentiable’s campaign was guided by “positive campaigning” and “no badmouthing,” despite many of his supporters berating Robredo with phrases like “Leni Lugaw” and “dilawan.”
If it’s any early indication in this senatorial campaign, it will be the President who will go on the offensive for the administration candidates.
Facts, praise, opinion?
It appears that the alliance can’t quite agree on what the President just said.
To Sotto, “He was merely stating facts and that is as far as his perspective is concerned.”
For former congressman Erwin Tulfo, “Kanyang opinyon po ‘yon (That’s his opinion).”
Former interior secretary Secretary Benhur Abalos said, “If I do recall it right, the President started by praising each of our capabilities…there are reelectionist senators, there are congressmen, there are lawyers, there are women, he praised and praised [us].”
Facts, praise or opinion, at the end of the day, the President used pointed language that very well sets the tone for the next few months of campaigning for the coalition. – Rappler.com