Politics in the Philippines is beset by clan rivalry at the best of times – but recent events have well and truly blown the lid off a box of snakes. A vice-president making assassination threats towards her own president, while the country reels from its sixth typhoon in a month. Her father, meanwhile – himself a former president – is grilled by the senate about his alleged involvement with “death squads”.
Even by the usual high bar set by Filipino politics, this is chaotic and troubling.
This is a tale of two competing clans that once worked together for mutual benefit. The current president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr – the son of the former dictator Ferdinand, who ruled from 1965 until 1986 when he fled to Hawaii with his wife and family and much of the country’s treasury – was elected in 2022. He succeeded Rodrigo Duterte who had served as president from 2016-22. Bongbong was a decisive winner with almost 60% of the vote. In part, that victory was enabled by his running mate, now the vice-president: Sara Duterte – Rodrigo’s daughter.
