Pitiable Move

By Artchil B. Fernandez

President Bongbong Marcos (BBM) was visibly shaken by the setback suffered by his administration in the 2025 midterm election. His cobbled coalition slate, Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, managed to win five or six seats, the second-worst midterm election performance of a sitting administration in the post-EDSA regime.

Stung by the electorate’s rebuff, BBM sought to recalibrate and reset his political standing. A little over a week after the election, he aired his sentiments in a podcast posted on his social media accounts. Hosted by vlogger Anthony Taberna, BBM made some eerie statements which placed him and his administration in a bad light.

In the latter part of the podcast, Taberna asked BBM if he is willing to reconcile with the Dutertes, now his bitter political nemesis. “Yes. I don’t like conflicts. What I want is to get along with everyone,” BBM answered. “It’s better… I already have a lot of enemies; I don’t need more. What I need are friends,” he added.

To put context to his openness to reconciliation with the Dutertes, BBM explained he desires peace and stability. “That’s why I’m always open to things like that. I’m always open to any approach like, ‘Come on, let’s work together,’” he said defensively. “Even if we don’t agree on policy, even if we don’t get along, just do your job. But let’s not cause trouble anymore,” he stressed, adding, “Let’s remove the chaos.”

Sensing an opening or even weakness, the Dutertes and allies immediately pounced on BBM. Bato de la Rosa demanded that BBM must first show “extreme sincerity” before any reconciliation can happen. “But because of the depth of the wounds they inflicted on us, I think what’s really needed is ‘extreme sincerity.’ Not just something superficial, because as I’ve said, we’ve already had experience with him…” de la Rosa emphasized.

Bong Go, Duterte’s loyal acolyte, set a stiff condition for reconciliation. “If he wants a reconciliation, they should bring back Tatay Digong first, because he is the one they should talk to. He is the elder Duterte, he was the one who served our countrymen in the past six years,” Go insisted. “If you are capable of sending Tatay Digong (to The Hague) in 14 hours, I know you can bring him back in the soonest time possible,” Go told BBM. In other words, BBM must first undo what he did to the Duterte patriarch for a reconciliation to happen.

Smelling blood, Sara Duterte, prior to BBM’s podcast, declared she wants nothing but bloodbath in her impeachment trial in the Senate. The Dutertes are clearly on the warpath, lusting for revenge.

The Dutertes and allies’ exacting demand and renewed attack forced BBM to backtrack his conciliatory tone. “No, no, no, no, no, no. No. That’s not how reconciliation works. You don’t put conditions to reconcile. When you want – if you’re sincere, you want to reconcile, let’s sit in front of…. Ano ba talaga ang problema? Paano nangyari ito? Tanggalin natin ang problem (What’s the problem? How did this happen? Let’s eliminate the problem),” BBM responded. “But if you say, I won’t talk until you give me this, this, this, this, this, then this won’t go anywhere. The conversation is done. That’s not reconciliation,” he added.

BBM’s podcast was a pitiable move. He should have been given proper advice before making public statements, especially in relation to the Dutertes. His “reconciliation statement” only made him look weak and appear defeated. It sounds like an admission of making a strategic and fatal political error. It only worsened the situation for him, a terrible complement to the beating of his slate in the midterm election.

At this point, showing vulnerability will only encourage the Dutertes and further sink BBM in public esteem. BBM should have come out swinging and on the offensive. Handled properly, the underperformance of his slate can be addressed without appearing weak and wounded.

The lethargic performance of the administration’s Senate slate was self-inflicted. First, there was the disastrous management of the campaign by Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco. Instead of consolidating the slate, it imploded under Tiangco. Imee Marcos left the alliance while Camille Villar was snatched by Sara Duterte. Tiangco was grossly incompetent and sorely lacks the gravitas to handle a national campaign.

Second, the weak performance of the administration Senate slate is due to incoherent, confusing, and fragmented messaging. Instead of making the arrest and handover of Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC and Sara Duterte’s impeachment central issues in the campaign, the administration avoided them. The administration should have highlighted the impact of the war on drugs on Filipinos, focusing on the victims. Core issues for why Sara Duterte was impeached should have been the dominant campaign conversation. Keeping quiet allowed the Dutertes to present their side, permitting their narrative on these issues to dominate the election. This was a mortal error on the part of the administration. The administration should have been in command of the issues.

Acknowledging its mistakes will allow the administration a reset in the next three years. BBM should learn the lessons of the election fiasco and rework his next move. This he cannot do by appearing conciliatory to the Dutertes. He has crossed his Rubicon and should accept it. Hints of accommodation with the Dutertes, even if only for publicity, will not help BBM. Short of total surrender accompanied by horrific humiliation of the Marcoses, nothing can appease the Dutertes.

BBM should stop entertaining the silly idea of restoring the old UniTeam days. That is long gone. The sooner BBM is reconciled with current reality, the better positioned he will be to recover from the election dud and dictate the national conversation. Any sign of weakness will only strengthen and embolden the Dutertes and their allies.