On UniTeam Breakup: The Religion of Names and Strongman Politics
It seems that in this year of multiple breakups between our favorite celebrity couples, there
might be one that could top them all. For the past years, their fans shipped them together into
the country’s biggest love team. But just like any other showbiz splits out there, the end of a love
team could be extremely messy, to say the least.
The history of Philippine governance has no shortage of political dramas, but in the
contemporary era, nothing beats the meltdown of the supposedly unbreakable relationship
between the current President, Bongbong Marcos, and his former ally, Vice President Sara
Duterte. It’s an alliance that most people thought would be solid, almost Messianic in nature,
with their promises of “Bagong Pilipinas” and “Sama-sama tayong babangon muli,” which are as
lofty and preposterous as Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”
Filipinos have a fetish for strongman politicians, and the Marcoses and the Dutertes are the role
models of strongman politics in the country. Naturally, 30 million Filipinos were charmed by the
UniTeam tandem, if you believe the credibility of the last national election. The last election
offered one of the most diverse sets of presidential candidates: seasoned politicians, actors,
former athletes, et cetera, but the electorate favored the old names—old dynasties who left a
traumatic smear in the collective memory of our nation. But maybe it could be subjective,
because some people see this smear as cosmetic.
It would be almost two years now since the Marcos-Duterte tandem made their way together to
the high echelons of the government. The history of Philippine governance has no shortage of
political dramas, but in the contemporary era, nothing beats the meltdown of the supposedly
unbreakable relationship between the current President, Bongbong Marcos, and his former ally,
Vice President Sara Duterte. It’s an alliance that most people thought would be solid, almost
Messianic in nature, with their promises of “Bagong Pilipinas” and “Sama-sama tayong
babangon muli,” which are as lofty and preposterous as Donald Trump’s “Make America Great
Again.”
Filipinos have a fetish for strongman politicians, and the Marcoses and the Dutertes are the role
models of strongman politics in the country. Naturally, 30 million Filipinos were charmed by the
UniTeam tandem, if you believe the credibility of the last national election. The last election
offered one of the most diverse sets of presidential candidates: seasoned politicians, actors,
former athletes, et cetera, but the electorate favored the old names—old dynasties who left a
traumatic smear in the collective memory of our nation. But maybe it could be subjective,
because some people see this smear as cosmetic.
It would be almost two years now since the Marcos-Duterte tandem made their way together to
the high echelons of the government. Despite their posture of a united front, cracks began to
form in their relationships. One might think that the UniTeam tandem is following the trend of
multiple celebrity breakups this year, although this particular fallout has more significant
repercussions that could define our politics for the next six years or so.
One might think that the UniTeam tandem is following the trend of multiple celebrity breakups
this year, although this particular fallout has more significant repercussions that could define our
politics for the next six years or so.
Mindanao is a special case: previous elections showed massive support for the Dutertes and
the Marcoses. With the split happening between the two factions, their supporters faced a
dilemma: will they maintain their loyalty to their Messianic Marcos or prefer to stick to the
Dutertes, who are their fellow Mindanawon?
Beginnings of the Strongman Alliance
Duterte’s rise from a maverick mayor from Davao City into the national political arena was
considered by many pundits to be lightning-quick and unprecedented. After all, the old man
denied multiple times that he would be running for president. But, of course, history ran its
course.
Nevertheless, he charmed the masses with his “honest profanity,” his vigilante approach
towards crime, and the fact that he could be the first politician in Mindanao to enter Malacañang
as the country’s highest leader. The last president came from a familiar name—an aristocratic
clan in Philippine politics—and Duterte posed as a man of the masses, although the familiarity
of his name dates way back to the 1960s and was enough to secure his family a foothold in
Davao City for decades.
Added to the mix is Bongbong Marcos, the son of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. There
is no running around with this truth: the older Marcos was a dictator through and through. No
one could circumvent the rule of law and lead the country for twenty years and not be branded
as a tyrant, regardless of the intent. His reputation, although tainted with blood, still has a
certain charisma for the masses. Maybe it’s because of the disillusionment towards the Aquinos
that the voters thought, “I think EDSA I was a mistake; maybe we shouldn’t have ousted the
Marcoses! ”And that was the beginning of their return to power. What started as a simple
whisper turned into a resounding mania, strengthened by clever political play.
Two men from strongman clans—that’s how you start a fire.
The two politicians did not run in the same party during the 2016 election: Digong ran for
president under the banner of PDP-LABAN (ironically, a coalition built in the 1980s to stand
against the Marcos dictatorship), while Marcos ran as an independent candidate for vice
president.
Duterte won the support of Alabelian voters with 22,000 votes, while Marcos won with 10,000
votes. But owning the Marcos name at the time was not enough to win Bongbong the vice
presidential seat. Leni Robredo won the position, a decision that the Marcoses contested for a
significant portion of Duterte’s tenure as president. We all know how it turned out.
Still, we saw the beginnings of a UniTeam alliance during that time. A foreboding sign.
Faith in Names and Promises
After the Yolanda crisis and the ill-fated Mamasapano Clash, Noynoy Aquino’s administration
was mired by disillusionment from the masses. The late president promised retribution against
corrupt officials, to improve the economy, and to make a stand to maintain our sovereign
waters. That he did, but the country sank into perilous depths to the point that we clamor for
reforms that we could actually feel, not merely something that you could read on paper and
watch on television.
And so, like most politicians, PNoy was crucified that way.
Cynicism toward this type of leadership leads to men like Duterte rising to power. The very
same way that people like Hitler and Mussolini became the most powerful men of their time.
Amusingly, some BBM-DDS supporters don’t hide the fact that they are very proud of this
comparison. No one knew if they skipped the part of history books detailing what these men did
to their people.
Disillusionment breeds a darker incarnation of hope among the jaded citizens, which is
something that cunning men prey on to their advantage. Duterte promised a “straightforward”
way of solving crimes, while Marcos Jr. promised to "make the Philippines great again,” with the
classic “Bagong Pilipinas” tagline of his late father’s administration. As a Filipino who fell prey to
previous promises from politicians, this other set of promises just sounded like honey to the
ears. An assurance from a returning abusive husband that he will not beat the crap out of you
ever again. And you are the battered wife in that situation.
Mindanao saw great competition to capture the key national positions in the government. Long
convoys were organized, variety show/concert events were launched, celebrities participated,
and all that chaos in the social media where real people and paid trolls spent hours supporting
their preferred candidates and mudslinging those that they didn’t like. It was a battle of who got
the biggest names in showbiz endorsing them—a fight to win the most familiarity among the
voters, taking advantage of their respective political clan affiliations. If your name is familiar
enough, you might just win.
From the get-go, Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte were at the top of the charts, despite their
absence in multiple presidential and vice presidential debates organized by media outfits. It
could be from the fear of public scrutiny or the UniTeam tandem being so sure of their victory.
But surprises can happen in lots of places.
Despite the hype that the UniTeam had in Mindanao during the campaign period, Bongbong
Marcos did not completely conquer the land. In Sarangani Province, Manny Pacquiao took the
lead in the presidential race with 160,000 votes, while Sara Duterte won the coveted vice
presidency. Although this surprising turn of events was not enough to keep another Marcos from
Malacañang, the message was clear: Mindanawons will always choose their own. It was a
classic display of our regionalist tendencies, but it was a starting sign. Maybe the relationship
between the two strongman clans is not as strong as most people thought.
A Stranger Cognitive Dissonance
2022 and 2023 saw an era of grandiose promises and united fronts between the country’s two
prominent political clans. We were promised 20 pesos per kilo of rice, massive improvements in
the quality of life, defending our sovereign waters, and other pambobola that most often
constitute the honeymoon phase of a relationship. Then 2024 came, and the show ended.
A series of political plays systematically removed pro-Duterte officials from key positions in the
government—allegedly a move by the Marcoses to take control of the legislative body.
Meanwhile, the Dutertes are gearing towards another clamor for a Charter Change- altering the
Constitution for God knows who.
Desperately fending off the ICC, the Dutertes mustered their forces in a counterattack from a
supposed betrayal from their Marcos allies by bringing up the president’s alleged drug habits.
And so the two factions engaged in a Cold War while still maintaining a facade of unity. But only
fools cannot see the cracks in the foundations of what used to be the UniTeam.
The crack was more visible in the faces of the Mindanao electorate, which voted for both
Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte during the last elections. Whose side are they supposed to
pick?
Added to this is our regionalist mentality: the centuries’ old schism between the Mindanawons
and the so-called Imperial North. Now, the cognitive dissonance struck in an odder way than
anticipated. Mindanao voters who voted for both Marcos and Sara are now siding with the Vice
President and maligning her former running mate, while those who are solid BBM are attacking
Bongbong’s supposed ally.
To think that both “fandoms” used to hound the other presidential candidates with the same
level of ferocity. One might wonder if they only exist to fight and bully and not for anything that is
more beneficial for the nation.
But one could also wonder if that is the type of society that maintains questionable leaders in
power, which is the reason why we have had the status quo for decades. We worship names,
and when the crap hits the fan, we worship the name that echoes the loudest.
Being a Wise Sarangan Youth Voter
One of the cardinal rules of writing an opinionated piece is to avoid the tone of preaching. While
it does make sense as a rule, it is inevitable to always write words of advice or a message of
caution to the younger generation, especially for those who will exercise their right of suffrage
for the first time. The world is getting a little bit worse with every passing year, and although it
may seem futile, we still need to trust the new generation to learn from the mistakes of our
predecessors and do the right thing.
Everything starts at the microscale. Your political choices are defined by how you elect your
Supreme Student Council—are you voting for them because they deserve the position or
because you simply know them? The same rule applies in choosing the right candidates for the
Sangguniang Kabataan, and especially for most of the local elections.
It is an open secret that certain politicians opted to provide “charity” to the economically
challenged voters, which, for some reason, coincided with the campaign period.
Yeah, sure.
We have to stay away from politicians who are content with solving societal problems only on
the surface and then continue plunging us into a world of misery due to their sheer
incompetence and/or corruption.
Substance over glamor. That should be the name of the game. It's repetitive advice at this point,
but that is the only way to give this wretched country of ours a semblance of hope and
redemption.
Others could argue that searching for “clean” politicians is naive, but maybe it’s because we’ve
been so used to terrible leaders that the idea of a public servant with good integrity, dignity, and
credibility is a dream beyond our reach.
We need to be more critical of the information that we are receiving and what we relay to the
other people. In this era, we’ve been willing to be consumers of gossip-mongers who pose as
influencers. While the words of these gossipers may have an inch of truth in it, their words
twisted context that could damage the intellect. We should process information as objectively as
possible because if we don’t then how different are we from Ogie Diaz, Cristy Fermin, or Xian
Gaza?
But truth be told, if we just use our critical thinking skills, it’s not a far-fetched possibility. And
with that, we could have endured fewer clown farces. No insults intended for the literal clowns
making an honest living.
Choose to do the right thing.
Our Editorial Policy
Sarangani Tribute is an independent, student-run newspaper serving the community of Alabel
National High School. It is printed twice during the school year. Past issues are archived at [Link]
The Sarangani Tribute staff upholds a code of ethics that values honesty, integrity, accuracy and
responsibility. Our mission is to help the local community interpret campus, local, national and
international events through articles and editorials written and edited by students.
Sarangani Tribute welcomes letters and emails from readers. We reserve the right to edit
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judge to be libelous, obscene, invades privacy or constitutes hate speech. Anonymous letters will not be
published.
The staff editorial represents the opinion of Sarangani Tribute staff, not necessarily that of Alabel
National High School.
EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shaira Karen Matulac
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Leonna Jayden Arnaiz
SECTION EDITORS: Marielle Ann T. Alborote, Alyza Amor Guadalupe, Charrydell Apduhan, James David Balbino
WRITERS: Angel Sophiea Alarin, Chessyl Getalla, Fretzie Joy Casing, Elthon Brend Cotanda, Jasmine Abendan, Jhunryx Quillaza, Leonna
Jayden Arnaiz, Merrylle Chris Beniola, Mikaella Parilla, Rea Mae Dayondon, Riebe Boy Galo, Trecia Yvujin Janiel, Shaira Kharen P. Matulac
LAYOUT: FRETZIE CASING
PHOTOJOURNALISTS: Vanessa Gleam Lalantacon, Kezaiah Bibas
CARTOONIST: Dana Elaine Velarde , James Sacabin, Christine C. Maslog, Lori G. Renol, Michaella Joy N. Apud
SCHOOL PAPER ADVISER: Valerie D. Generale
SPJ COORDINATOR: Bryll O. Regidor
CONSULTANT: Cherwin Macaranas, Principal 2
SUPERINTENDENT: Ruth Estacio
