PHILIPPINE STAR/ WALTER BOLLOZOSBy Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter
THE three separate rallies on Friday that called for the impeachment of Vice-President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio revealed that opposition forces in the country remain weak, analysts said, noting the need to unite ahead of the midterm elections.
“The fact that the opposition are still able to mobilize means the oldest and most consolidated section of civil society is still not down and out despite every loss it incurred over the last nine years,” Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“However, the fact that it came on the heel of recent mobilizations by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and other evangelical groups in favor of incumbent politicians does point to an increasingly crowded, fragmented and differentiated civil society sector,” he added.
Three anti-corruption rallies were held on Friday, including two in EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue) and one at the Liwasang Bonifacio organized by groups under Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
One of the rallies in EDSA was led by Akbayan Party and Magdalo Party-list, which both focused on the calls for the impeachment of Ms. Duterte.
The Bayan-led rally in Manila and the EDSA protest concert organized by the Clergy for Good Governance and participated in by progressive groups such as Sanlakas and Partido Lakas ng Masa called for Ms. Duterte’s impeachment and heavily criticized President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez for what they called as “corrupt” 2025 national budget.
The rallies organized by the opposition forces were held weeks after INC drew millions of people to the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Jan. 13 in support of Ms. Duterte.
“The unity of the opposition forces — Liberal, Akbayan and Makabayan — in the 2025 senatorial slate would have been a genuine big force in previous years,” Mr. Juliano said.
“Now, however, in the face of still significant support for the Marcoses and Dutertes, it may ironically highlight their weakness and need to shore up each other’s numbers,” he said.
“There’s a way to reverse this if they can present a broader and more welcoming tent to potential market voters this May—not just on anti-corruption and moral political stances, but more so on development, economic and social welfare issues,” he added.
Mr. Juliano said they need a “serious and smart answer” to how their alternative options are more sustainable than the patronage politics that continue to dominate Philippine politics.
Anthony Lawrence Borja, a political science professor at De La Salle University likewise said with the INC rally at the backdrop, the Friday protests may be perceived as a “symptom of a weak opposition; a near insignificant nuisance.”
“The liberal and leftist opposition forces, especially the latter are too disparate to form a united front even if they are already bound together by common targets,” he said via Messenger chat.
The separate rallies on Friday will only reinforce pre-existing prejudices against the left — that it is “a disunited bunch of eternally disappointed actors.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Borja said Mr. Marcos reaction to these protests have generally been ambivalent, “with the President appearing in other events instead of reacting to it.”
“It is on brand though as this administration wants a supposedly depoliticized approach to such matters,” Mr. Borja said. “The lack of reaction from the chief will prompt his followers to make the same dismissal.
Mr. Juliano said the Marcos camp is still in a position of strength due to its incumbency.
“The real test is whether their endorsements/alliances to political dynasties hold in the local level and in the Lower House,” he said.
He noted that if the Marcos camp could retain its numbers in the House, it would be difficult to turn the President into a “lame duck,” but if they fail, it would be because of the Dutertes. This could prompt Ms. Duterte to reassert herself amid cases and allegations.
“Electoral victory does have the potential to wipe out the moral urgency of corruption cases, especially if it can be casted as pure partisan harassment.”
