Presidential Election Campaigns Begin In The Philippines

Voters cast training ballots in Manila for the 2022 Philippine election in December 2021.

Presidential and vice presidential campaigns began this week in the Philippines, with candidates looking to fill President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo’s seats. The frontrunners in the presidential race are Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Robredo, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, and Senator and retired boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. 

The general election will be held on May 9, 2022. Twelve senate seats, 300 lower house seats, and thousands of local positions will also be up for grabs, but the presidential election is the one to watch. Whoever the 67 million-strong electorate chooses will send a message as the country seeks to exit the coronavirus pandemic and the Duterte administration.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos, son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is the clear frontrunner in the presidential race, with an overwhelming lead in the polls. He has chosen President Duterte’s daughter and Mayor of Davao City, Sara Duterte-Carpio, to be his running mate. 

Marcos returned from exile in Hawaii in the 1990s to run for public office and redefine his family’s history. The name recognition of the Marcos surname, while eliciting controversy for his family’s role in brutalizing and plundering the Filipino population for more than two decades, has nonetheless been a boon for his popular support. 

Duterte-Carpio, as the daughter of the current president, also has an advantage in name recognition. She reportedly is explicitly asking for her father’s endorsement and support, which could give the duo a further edge. 

Furthermore, Marcos’ ties to the northern province of Ilocos Norte and Duterte-Caprio’s leadership over the southern and third-largest metropolitan area Davao City is part of a broader strategy to tie together the Luzon and the Mindanao islands. These factors make this ticket a formidable challenge for the other candidates to overcome.

Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., center left, and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, center right, begin their campaign for the 2022 national elections. Photo: AP

Leni Robredo, a staunch opponent of President Duterte and the current vice president, is also running for president with a good governance and pro-labor message. Among her top policy positions is a realignment of the current coronavirus response and the current system of government transfers, in order to better support the impoverished. 

Robredo beat Marcos in 2016’s vice presidential election by 0.61%, and is now looking to secure her position as president. It remains to be seen whether Robredo’s criticism of President Duterte will work in her favor, and she is currently trailing in the polls.

Not far behind Robredo in the polls is the Mayor of Manila, Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. He grew up poor on the streets of Manila but managed to achieve success in the film and television industry under the stage name “Isko Moreno.” As mayor of the capital, he has an undeniable advantage with the largest metropolitan area in the Philippines. 

Domagoso recently received the endorsement of the two deputy leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate, who called his role in the coronavirus response in Manila exemplary. These endorsements come from legislators in Cebu and Batangas, which have a combined population of over 7 million people. 

One of the few candidates with more celebrity status than Mayor Moreno is Senator and former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. Like Moreno, Pacquiao grew up in poverty only to reach stardom. After winning a record eight division titles, Pacquiao entered Filipino politics to run for the House of Representatives. He then ran for the Senate, where he remains today. 

Last July, Pacquiao was involved in a factional dispute with the ruling PDP-Laban party as to who would succeed as leader of the party. This dispute culminated in a contested election for president of the party, with Pacquiao and Duterte’s candidate simultaneously claiming victory. Whoever takes control of PDP-Laban will be supported by the largest party in the archipelago.