1 month ago
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ILOCOS NORTE, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took a swipe at his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte during his proclamation rally in Ilocos Norte, boldly proclaiming that none of his Senate bets have a track record associated with the bloody drug war operation “Oplan Tokhang," among other activities.
Tokhang was the infamous police operation that has become synonymous with the bloody war on drugs that has seen the deaths of thousands of suspects.
“None of them has traces of blood because of tokhang. None of them was aligned with the pocketing of sacks of money, who took advantage of the pandemic crisis, who let their countrymen fall ill and die out of neglect,” Marcos said in his bailiwick.
Aside from tokhang, Marcos also alluded to the Pharmally mess, which saw up to P67.32 billion in pandemic funds being deficiently used.
Marcos also said that none of his bets serve false prophets who abused women and children. While he named no names, many believe this as an allusion to Duterte’s relentless support of self-proclaimed son of God Apollo Quiboloy, who faces jail time due to sexual crimes.
But just what exactly have Marcos’ bets said and done when it comes to these issues, according to reports from different, reputable news sources?
Benjamin Abalos, former DILG chief
Tokhang. When he stepped into the role of Interior Secretary during Marcos’ term in 2022, Abalos promised to tackle the drug war from the grassroots level while addressing societal ills. Abalos said that the drug war under Marcos would be just as “intensive” as before.
The Dahas Project, an academic effort to keep count of those killed in drug operations, said that drug-related deaths still persisted under Marcos. They recorded 359 drug-related deaths from July 2023 to June 2024, with 34.3% of these deaths being caused by state agents. Abalos left Marcos’ cabinet in October 2024 to run as a senator.
Quiboloy. Abalos had little ties to Quiboloy himself other than helping oversee his capture for the latter’s alleged sex crimes. However, there was much controversy with the capture, with troops of police raiding the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Compound in Davao City: the supposed hideout of Quiboloy. The supposed manner that police conducted the operations caused Duterte to file two counts of malicious mischief against Abalos.
Corruption. While he was Mayor of Mandaluyong, Abalos faced a P1.8 billion graft case filed against him by political opponents in 2021, which was dismissed by the Ombudsman for having no merit. The Ombudsman said Abalos was able to take due diligence, forming a committee to trace the money.
Abby Binay, incumbent Makati mayor
Tokhang. During the early days of tokhang in 2016, Binay, as Makati mayor, seemed ready to lend a hand in accomplishing the original intent of the police operation: which is to open the drug personalities' door and convince them to change their ways.
“The war against drugs can only be won if we extend our full cooperation with the police, especially in locating known pushers and users in our own backyard,” Binay said in 2016.
Binay generally refrained from commenting on the more violent devolution of tokhang and the drug war.
Quiboloy. There is little record of direct links between Binay and Quiboloy. However, Abby’s sister, outgoing senator Sen. Nancy Binay was endorsed by Quiboloy in the 2013 senatorial race.
Corruption. While members of Abby’s family have been tagged in corruption cases, the same cannot be said about the senatorial aspirant. Both her father, former vice president Jejomar Binay and former Makati Mayor Junjun Binay were slapped with corruption charges by the Ombudsman. It could be recalled that Abby had a public falling out with her brother Junjun after the two ran against each other for Makati Mayor in 2019.
Pia Cayetano, incumbent senator
Tokhang. While there were few ties between Cayetano and actual drug war activities. She was, however, one of Duterte’s senatorial picks in 2019 when she ran for senator. Cayetano was also the chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in 2024 when it was tasked to probe Duterte’s war on drugs. However, Cayetano was not the one to actually lead the hearing, but Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, as she was in a summit at the time.
Quiboloy. Cayetano has not been recording making bold statements on Quiboloy. During the Senate’s probe into Quiboloy’s alleged misconduct in 2024, she appeared to have refrained from signing an objection letter that attempted to reverse the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality’s decision to hold Quiboloy in contempt for failing to show up during hearings.
Corruption. Cayetano managed to have evaded major corruption scandals for most of her career, but she was one of the senators who signed the Senate blue ribbon committee report that recommended the filing of plunder charges against three senators at the time: former senator Juan Ponce Enrile, and current senators Ramon Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada. Cayetano is currently running alongside Revilla in Marcos’ slate.
Lito Lapid, incumbent senator
Tokhang. Lapid has generally refrained from making comments about tokhang and the drug war.
Quiboloy. In 2024, the typically reserved Lapid previously made a comment saying that Quiboloy should be allowed to attend Senate hearings virtually to allow him a chance to answer the allegations made against him.
Corruption. While he was governor of Pampanga, Lapid was tagged in the fertilizer scam in 2004, which saw the purchases of overpriced fertilizer by more than P4.2 million. While the Ombudsman case was originally junked by the Sandignabayan due to inordinate delay, the Supreme Court in 2019 ordered its revival.
Panfilo Lacson, former senator
Tokhang. In 2021, Lacson, still a senator, publicly called Duterte’s drug war a failure. The comment came a year before Duterte’s term ended and Lacson himself would run for the presidency.
“Let us not pretend anymore, the drug war really failed because the drugs are still there,” Lacson said. In his presidential bid, Lacson promised that there would be no tokhang operations if he won.
Prior to this, Lacson held Senate hearings about the tokhang issue but would eventually terminate it in favor of seeing how reforms in police operations would pan out.
While Lacson has criticized the drug war, he has a past of being attached to violent crimes. Lacson was a fugitive from 2010 to 2011 when he left the country before a court issued an arrest warrant for him over the killing of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. The Supreme Court has since cleared Lacson of involvement.
Quiboloy. Lacson and his 2022 running mate, Tito Sotto, opted to skip the national debates hosted by Quiboloy-owned station SMNI, arguing that the pastor had already chosen its candidate.
Corruption. In a 2001 story from The STAR, former police undercover agent Mary Ong alleged that Lacson’s camp tried to bribe her to testify against a former police chief.
Erwin Tulfo, incumbent ACT-CIS Party-list representative
Tokhang. Tulfo was a broadcast journalist before entering politics, which makes all the more sense for him to speak about Duterte’s tokhang operations. On the Bitag Official channel on YouTube, Tulfo has a report titled “Erwin Tulfo: Dapat bang ibalik ang Oplan Tokhang?” (Should Oplan Tokhang Resume?). This was back in 2017, after Duterte designated the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as the sole agency charged with implementing the drug war after the police were faced with widespread criticisms of abuse.
In his report, Tulfo raised that some citizens think that crime increased following this transfer of power.
“A lot people are… they kind of miss this Oplan Tokhang,” Tulfo said on the Bitag program.
Quiboloy. Tulfo appeared to have refrained from publicly commenting about Quiboloy.
Corruption. While Tulfo is new to politics and has since evaded corruption scandals, his prior appointment as the Social Welfare and Development Secretary was blocked by the Commission on Appointments.
Imee Marcos, incumbent senator
Tokhang. Like Tolentino, Imee, the president’s sister, said in the GMA News Senatorial Face-Off in 2019 that she is in favor of continuing Oplan Tokhang. Imee was also a senatoriable in Duterte’s slate that year. Despite the rift between the Marcoses and Dutertes, Imee has chosen to stay close with the latter clan.
Quiboloy. In 2024, Imee publicly defended Quiboloy, lamenting the accusations hurled against him.
“He has been kind to us, and above all, he has truly helped many people. So, it saddens me that it has come to this. I hope that this can be resolved in a peaceful and quiet manner,” she said. Imee has also attempted to block the Senate’s contempt order against Quiboloy in March 2024.
Corruption. While the Marcos family has long been associated with ill-gotten wealth, Imee has in the past been linked in incidents of possible graft. A House panel previously recommended the filing of administrative and criminal cases against Imee for the allegedly irregular purchase of minicabs amounting to P64.45 million, which was done without public biddings.
Imee also has offshore accounts, which are usually used by the wealthy to avoid paying taxes. She argued that these were trust accounts for her children’s education.
Manny Pacquiao, former senator and boxing legend
Tokhang. In 2016, Pacquiao admitted to being a drug user, but nonetheless went on to support Duterte’s drug war. Following an internal splintering of the ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino, however, Pacquiao was ousted as the group’s president in 2021. The boxing legend turned politician said in 2022 that he would fight illegal drugs “the right way” if he wins the presidential race.
Quiboloy. Pacquiao does have a history with Quiboloy— of trading libel complaints with each other, that is. Pacquiao filed a cyber libel complaint against Quiboloy after the pastor claimed that the boxer had misused funds for the Sarangani Sports Training Center. In turn, Quiboloy filed a libel complaint against Pacquiao, saying that the latter tried to discredit the former.
Corruption. While he has addressed Quiboloy’s allegation of corruption, there are no formal charges filed. Pacquiao also earned the ire of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) after the agency said that he had P2.26 billion in undeclared income. But the Court of Tax Appeals later ruled in favor of Pacquiao, saying that he and his wife Jinkee were not given due process.
Francis Tolentino, incumbent senator
Tokhang. Tolentino previously accepted Sen. Bato Dela Rosa’s request to defend him at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Dela Rosa was Duterte’s police chief at the height of the drug war, and has often been tagged as one of the architects of the operations. The senator challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction in the Philippines after Duterte decided to pull out of the judicial body. Moreover, in the GMA News Senatorial Face-Off in 2019, Tolentino said that he was in favor of Tokhang operations continuing.
Quiboloy. Following a Davao court’s issuance of an arrest order for Quiboloy, Tolentino reiterated that the doomsday pastor’s rights should be respected. At the time, Quiboloy also had a Senate arrest warrant out for him.
“Let’s allow him to exercise his legal rights and let’s respect whatever steps he decides to take,” Tolentino said.
Corruption. In 2010, Tolentino faced a complaint of plunder, graft, malversation and money laundering charges prior to taking up the post of Metro Manila Development Authority during the term of the late president Benigno Aquino III. The complaint stemmed from Tolentino’s time as mayor of Tagaytay. His former executive assistant Ronald Tan alleged that Tolentino and his brother Abraham Tolentino amassed P500 million in ill-gotten wealth. Both Tolentino and Aquino downplayed the complaints, as they were filed by political opponents at the time.
Vicente Sotto III, former Senate president
Tokhang. Sotto expressed support for Duterte’s drug war in 2022. On GMA’s "The Mangahas Interviews," Sotto said it was unclear to him how human rights actors were able to claim to the ICC that around 30,000 people were killed.
“Ang bloated ng figures kasi na nakarating sa ICC hindi ko kasi alam kung sinong Pontio Pilato nagpadala ng mga record doon sinama pati homicide, murder, pati suicide nasa 30,000 daw ang namatay. Hindi naman, 6,215,” Sotto said. )The figures that reached the ICC were so bloated, I do not know which Pontious Pilate sent that record that even homicide, murder and suicide were killed i that 30,000. It is not, it is 6,215.)
Quiboloy. Sotto appeared to have refrained from addressing the controversies surrounding Quiboloy. However, he did skip the national debates on the Quiboloy-owned SMNI. The Lacson-Sotto duo cited that Quiboloy had already openly endorsed which candidates it will endorse.
Corruption. Sotto has not been slapped with formal corruption complaints. He was, however, the Senate president at the time when the Pharmally scandal broke: one of the issues that Marcos alluded to directly on the campaign stage in saying that the previous leaders neglected their sick countrymen. In 2022, Sotto denied pressuring his colleagues to sign the Senate blue ribbon committee report that found Duterte liable in the Pharamally mess.
“I will resign and shoot myself in Luneta,” Sotto said in 2022 about the allegation.
Bong Revilla, incumbent senator
Tokhang. Revilla has refrained from publicly addressing Duterte’s bloody drug war but has expressed support for the former president. He used to be partymates with Vice President Sara Duterte in the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats political party.
Quiboloy. Revilla appears to have refrained from publicly speaking about the controversial doomsday pastor.
Corruption. Revilla was famously embroiled in the pork barrel scam controversy during the Aquino administration, when a reported P10 billion was channeled into bogus charities. In 2014, Revilla faced plunder charges at the Sandiganbayan, where he denied any guilt. He spent four years in detention before being acquitted for plunder in 2018, while his co-accused Janet Napoles was found guilty. As of 2021, Revilla was cleared of all graft charges.
Camille Villar, Las Piñas representative
Tokhang. Aspiring senator Villar appears to have refrained from speaking about Duterte’s drug war publicly. However, her mother, Sen. Cynthia Villar, was endorsed by Duterte in 2019.
Quiboloy. There were also little to no records of Camille being associated with Quiboloy, however, her mother Cynthia was seen speaking in his Kingdom of Jesus Christ church in Antipolo in 2019 during the midterm election season, upon Quiboloy’s invitation.
Corruption. Camille, part of the second generation of extremely wealthy Villars involved in politics, has had no formal corruption charges filed against her. Her father, former senate president and business tycoon Manny Villar, is one of the richest people in the Philippines. In 2024, Forbes ranked the Villar patriarch as the richest man in the country. His latest real time net worth as of writing is $18.6 billion, or a staggering P1.0 trillion. For context this is already around one-sixth of the country’s national budget for 2025.
