According to Ramon Beleno, a political analyst and former professor in Davao City, Sara Dutertes, free from a cupboard portfolio, will likely use her time to consolidate her support while also in search of to field her own congressional candidates to challenge Marcos-backed politicians. bailiwick.
An honest midterm result would improve the possibilities of Sara – the daughter of former leader Rodrigo Duterte – of winning the presidency in 2028, Beleno said. “Dutertes will try to regain momentum and go on the offensive with full force,” he said.
The vp will pose a big political challenge to Marcos, and polls show Sara is more popular than the president while being amongst voters’ top alternative to succeed Marcos when his single term ends in 2028.
Still, Marcos enjoys most of the perks of the presidency, giving him a bonus in next 12 months’s elections, said Sherwin Ona, a political science professor at De La Salle University in Manila.
“The president has, so to speak, a political machine. The 2025 elections will be an opportunity for Marcos to consolidate his power,” he said.
Duterte’s departure gives Marcos “unchallenged” power in the federal government, said Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior research fellow on the Ateneo Policy Center in Manila. “The president now has full and exclusive control over his and his family’s political future,” he said.
But in accordance with Harry Roque, who was spokesman throughout the presidency of Sara’s father, Rodrigo, such a move would allow Duterte to be more vocal in his opposition to Marcos. “The line has been drawn,” Roque said in a Facebook post.
The political changes are unlikely to trigger an instantaneous leadership crisis within the Philippines, said Bob Herrera-Lim, managing director of worldwide consultancy Teneo. The Southeast Asian country stays considered one of the fastest growing economies within the region.
“The public will see it for what it is – the formalization of the political divorce of the Marcos and Duterte families in preparation for the 2025 presidential elections and ultimately the 2028 presidential elections.” – he said.
