[Rappler’s Best] Marcos’ Good Friday

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. finds himself in the company of the Philippines’ most distrusted president since 1986

Happy Easter! Here’s hoping you found time during the Holy Week to pause and stop the world from spinning around you.

For Noranians like me, the sudden death of Ate Guy on Wednesday, April 16, made us pine for the good old days — when sheer talent could defeat glamor and glitz in the entertainment world. Charo Santos, former ABS-CBN president and an actress herself, said it best in her tribute to Nora Aunor: “Whether it was in Himala, Bona, Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, Thy Womb, or Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo, she made us feel every emotion. Every tear she shed onscreen felt like a collective heartbreak. Every line she delivered became etched in the memory of Philippine cinema.” (WATCH: Nora Aunor’s restored classic movies)

It was also last Wednesday when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. went through what we can describe as his Good Friday crucifixion, with Pulse Asia releasing its latest on public officials’ approval ratings. He found himself in the company of the Philippines’ most distrusted president since 1986, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, with both having a miserable 25% trust rating halfway into their term.

But there’s a key difference. In 2007, when her ratings took a nosedive, Arroyo technically was not in her midterm in office; she had already been president for six years, because she filled the remaining three years of Joseph Estrada, who was ousted in January 2001. Arroyo ran for, and won, her first official six-year term in 2004.

Arroyo’s unpopularity broke the conventional wisdom of incumbent presidents dominating the midterms. In 2007, the opposition defeated Arroyo’s slate with seven senatorial wins — plus the incredible victory, from behind bars, of independent bet Sonny Trillanes.

Marcos’ bets suffered a drubbing in late March, barely six weeks into the May elections, with Dutertes’ candidates garnering top spots in another Pulse Asia survey. Thought Leader Joey Salgado, however, notes that this is more of a Duterte bubble, not a wave, and that it’s unwise to write a political obituary for the well-oiled Marcos slate at this time. The Social Weather Stations’ April survey bears him out. 

• In Pulse Asia’s March 23-29 survey, the majority of Filipinos — across all social classes and geographical areas — said they don’t trust Marcos and disapprove of how he’s governing and managing our state of affairs. They flunked him in fighting inflation, with a 79% disapproval rate, followed by what they saw as his dismal efforts to fight graft and corruption (53% disapproval), reduce poverty (48% disapproval), and increase workers’ pay (48% disapproval).
• Will the satisfaction rate toward the Marcos administration also see a drop? By year-end in 2024, a Social Weather Stations survey showed that the majority (59%) were satisfied with the government’s performance.

Marcos’ dip should not surprise him. The political capital he spent in impeaching Sara Duterte and detaining her father Rodrigo, after all, was sourced from the voter base that helped make him president in 2022. He likely knew that, which is why he hemmed and hawed in making these two moves until his allies (in the case of the Vice President’s impeachment) and the universe (in the case of the former president’s arrest) forced his hand.

To be sure, presidents before him did expend huge political capital running after their foes. 

• Arroyo had Estrada arrested and jailed, triggering a short-lived uprising of his supporters in the so-called EDSA 3. Read more about it here.
• The late president Noynoy Aquino ran after Arroyo for corruption, having her arrested in 2011 for plunder. Aquino also mobilized allies to impeach the chief justice associated with Arroyo, the late Renato Corona, in December 2011. He was convicted five months later, in May 2012.
• The late president Fidel V. Ramos went on to crush what he believed was the country’s biggest threat to progress: monopolies in the telecommunications and energy sectors, and the oligarchs who controlled them.

When all these presidents stepped down from office, Filipinos voted for these leaders’ antithesis, and the ones they did not endorse in the campaign. That trend has yet to be bucked.

In any case, we’re still talking midterms here. But will Marcos suffer the same fate as Arroyo’s and lose majority of his coalition’s seats to Duterte and independent candidates?

To better understand public sentiment on this year’s senatorial races, we’re holding a Rappler + briefing on Wednesday, April 30, with SWS’ Mahar Mangahas and WR Numero’s Robin Garcia. Sign up for it by joining Rappler + here, and then email plus@rappler.com to reserve your spot for the briefing. If you are already a Rappler+ member, please RSVP via plus@rappler.com to receive the link to the session. 

Here are some of Rappler’s bests that you shouldn’t miss:

Jairo Bolledo profiles the staunchest critic of the Dutertes in Davao.

Iya Gozum talks to the forgotten shoemakers of Marikina and why these elections matter to them.

Bea Cupin looks into why senatorial candidate Camille Villar is making a bet that being in bed with both Marcos and Duterte will win her votes.

Ariel Ian Clarito walks us through the rich history of Philippine tennis — long before Alex Eala was born.

Christa Escudero shows how the Dutertes’ social media army ramped up efforts on Instagram on the day of the former president’s arrest.

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– Rappler.com

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