The Philippines in 2022: The “Dance” of the Dynasties

Summary

The year 2022 was one of multiple transitions for the Philippines. The country geared towards a resumption of normalcy not seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. After struggling with its pandemic response, the Duterte administration prevented another COVID-19 surge but accumulated a significant amount of financial debt. But the equally important transition has been the political succession in the government through the May 2022 national elections.

Under an election year, the Philippines proved once again that politics is an all-family affair. Political pedigree remained a crucial political asset as Filipinos tend to vote for trusted brands offered by political dynasties. At a time when populist strongmen like Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro have either fallen from power or are besieged, the Philippines stood out in 2022 as a case where populist illiberalism consolidated and gained an unassailable popular mandate. In May 2022, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.—son and namesake of the Philippines’ former dictator who ruled from 1965 to 1986 before being deposed in a popular uprising against human rights violations and corruption—won the presidency in an electoral victory that could only be characterized as the apex of the “restoration” of the Marcos political dynasty. Marcos has the distinction of being the first president in post-authoritarian Philippines to win an outright majority of nearly sixty per cent of the electorate. Less novel, however, is his family origin since the presidency has passed on to descendants of former presidents in nearly two-thirds of the last two decades. Generally regarded as Asia's oldest democracy, the Philippines is ironically also the country with the most presidential progenies in the world.

Past major electoral contests featured intensified competition between national political clans akin to what George R.R. Martin's famous novel-turned–television series The Game of Thrones described as a “dance”—a violent feud—between dynasties over political succession. The 2022 elections featured a more orthodox meaning of a “dance” of the dynasties as a unified, well-choreographed political performance for the hearts and minds of Filipino voters. Marcos Jr. forged a formidable alliance with the outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte's daughter and preferred successor, Sara Duterte, as his running mate. Together with other political dynasties, the tandem presented themselves as capable of continuing the legacies of the outgoing but still popular Rodrigo Duterte.