Las Piñas Rep. Camille A. Villar — BW FILE PHOTO

THE Marcos-backed alliance of senatorial candidates for this year’s midterm election is “intact,” according to its campaign manager, after one of its candidates was seen with Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio — a political rival of the Marcoses.

“The five-party Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas (Alliance for a New Philippines) composed of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, Lakas-CMD, National People’s Coalition, National Unity Party and Nacionalista Party is intact,” Navotas Rep. Tobias Reynald M. Tiangco, campaign manager of the Senate ticket, said in a statement.

“The Alyansa candidates are part of the administration slate because they are committed to the vision we all share — a new Philippines,” he said, adding that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had handpicked the candidates for their political experience.

Former Presidential spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque on Sunday shared a photo on Facebook of Deputy Speaker and Las Piñas Rep. Camille A. Villar, who is a Nacionalista Party member and part of the administration Senate slate, with the Vice-President.

“We’re grateful for the support of everyone from the local, national and grassroots [levels],” Ms. Villar told reporters at a news briefing. “Ever since the beginning, I already had an idea of how I wanted to campaign… We will just stay the course. We’re friends with everyone.”

His father, businessman and former Senate President Manuel B. Villar, Jr., said he is friends with both President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and his predecessor Rodrigo R. Duterte. “I have been a long friend of Marcos and Duterte. Why should I join their quarrel?” he told the same briefing.

He said both Mr. Marcos and Mr. Duterte know his daughter. “I’m not saying they’re both helping her campaign” since both don’t actively campaign, he added.

The Office of the Vice-President did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

The administration slate lost one candidate after presidential sister and reelectionist Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos withdrew in late March, days after Mr. Duterte was arrested by police and brought on a plane to The Hague to face trial by the International Criminal Court for his deadly war on drugs.

Ms. Marcos is friends with the Duterte family.

Ms. Villar’s appearance with the Vice-President appears to be a political move meant to appeal to the voter base of the Marcoses and Dutertes, Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “This is Villar just playing to their possible crowds.”

Millions of Filipinos will pick a new set of congressmen, 12 of the 24-member Senate and thousands of local officials on May 12, in an election viewed as a referendum on the Marcos administration.

The midterm polls will also take place amid a bitter feud between the Marcoses and Dutertes, whose alliance unraveled last year after congressmen stripped Ms. Duterte of her confidential funds and the House of Representatives revived a probe of her father’s war on drugs.

Ms. Villar could “play both sides” because she comes from a powerful political family, Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, an associate political science professor at De La Salle University, said via Messenger chat. “Unlike the other members of the slate, they can very well try to play both sides.”

The Villars are political heavyweights — Rep. Villar’s brother Mark and mother Cynthia are both senators. Her father is the richest Filipino, with a net worth of $17.2 billion (P982 billion), according to Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List.

“It is in the interest of both the Marcos and Duterte camps to pay goodwill to the Villars due to their money, and the Villars benefit from straddling both camps so they survive whoever gets the power in the next election cycle,” Mr. Juliano said. “They’d rather not antagonize the moneyed people.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio