Philippines: Marcos-Duterte feud puts China in the heated middle

Vice President Sara Duterte threatens to kill President Marcos Jr and clan amid suspicion China behind campaign to undermine US-leaning leader

Richard JavadHeydarian | Asia Times

MANILA – Heading into a new year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has plenty of reasons to be confident about his political prospects.

On one hand, his allies continue to top pre-election surveys, indicating a potential landslide victory for pro-administration candidates in next year’s midterm elections, broadly seen as a referendum on Marcos Jr’s popularity and the broader political opposition’s viability.

Thanks to the administration’s vast resources and organizational machinery, pro-Marcos candidates are widely expected to dominate the next legislature as well as key local government positions. Meanwhile, the Philippines is also generally optimistic about prospects of even stronger defense ties under a second Trump presidency.

Not only does the Philippines enjoy bipartisan support in the US Congress, but the incoming national security and foreign policy team in the White House is also filled with China hawks, who will likely prioritize frontline allies such as the Philippines.

But all is not well in Manila. Marcos Jr confronts existential risks at home from his former allies, the Duterte dynasty, as well as rising tensions with China in the South China Sea. At once, the Philippines is grappling with both a New Cold War between the world’s rival superpowers and a hot political war at home between the Philippines’ two most powerful political families.

The situation could seemingly tilt toward instability. Not long after publicly fantasizing about beheading the president, Vice President Sara Duterte made yet another alarming threat against Marcos Jr amid a festering feud between the once-close allies.

“Don’t worry about my safety. I have talked to a person and I said, if I get killed, go kill [Marcos Jr], [First Lady] Liza Araneta, and [Speaker] Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke,” she warned during a dramatic livestream while hunkered down in her brother’s (Paolo) office at the Philippine House of Representatives.

In recent months, the Philippine legislature has been investigating alleged wrongdoings by her family, including during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war as well as current Vice-President Sara Duterte’s questionable practices as the head of the well-oiled Department of Education.