DID ALYANSA HELP BAM AQUINO TO WIN?

On the early evening of May 11, or hours before the start of the May 12 midterm elections, Toby Tiangco, Alyansa ng Pagbabago campaign manager, met key political operatives of its senatorial slate to give the final marching order: include Paulo Benigno Aquino IV, nicknamed Bam, on the sample ballots of the pro-administration candidates positions. The order from the Alyansa leaders resonated within the coalition slate composed of candidates mainly from Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, the political party of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Lakas-NUCD, the political party of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and two other political parties – the National Unity Party (NUP) and Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

 What followed next was the initiative called “Operation Stamp Pad,” where Aquino’s name was stamped overnight on the millions of copies of sample ballots that were distributed to voters nationwide the following morning, or the start of the elections.

 The inclusion of Bam Aquino’s name on the pro-Marcos administration coalition sample ballots was unthinkable. The names of Aquino and Marcos evoke bitter memories of the political rivalry between the two families. The rivalry started when Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., the incumbent President’s father, locked horns with the martyred ex-senator Benigno Aquino Jr., Bam’s uncle, in a political dichotomy that characterized the twenty years of Marcos administration of which thirteen years  were under a dictatorship. The dichotomy triggered serious consequences to the Aquinos, who were believed to have suffered tremendously from the exercise of the Marcos dictatorial powers. Ninoy Aquino was imprisoned for seven years and went to exile to the U.S. for three years before his fateful return to the Philippines.

The Aquinos have long suspected Marcos, the dictator, to have been behind the August 21, 1983 assassination of the former lawmaker. Marcos, afflicted with a rare autoimmune disease that adversely affected his internal organs, underwent kidney transplant on Aug. 7, 1983. Since kidney transplant was not a perfected medical procedure during those days and the rate of mortality for patients who underwent this medical procedure was quite high, Aquino could have thought it was timely for him to go home after three years of U.S. exile to offer himself as sort of a democratic alternative. It was a mistake on his part, as Marcos had a purported order to murder him should he persist to return home during those days. What followed next was the most momentous in Philippine political history.

 Aquino’s murder was regarded as a main catalyst for the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship. Shortly after his assassination in broad daylight, protest demonstrations and other anti-dictatorship protest actions followed, forcing Marcos to call a “snap” presidential election in 1986 to defuse the political tension and confer legitimacy to his dictatorship. Although Marcos officially “won” in the elections, the four-day EDSA Revolution superseded his political victory. He was ousted and his dictatorship was dismantled by Aquino’s widow, Cory Aquino. Her presidency triggered the restoration of democracy, as shown by the adoption of the 1987 Constitution, which is still the constitution until now.

 During her presidency, Cory Aquino allowed without fanfare the Marcoses, except Ferdinand Sr., who died of a lingering illness in the U.S. in 1989, to return home after four or five years of exile. Their return has enabled the younger Marcoses, particularly Imee and Ferdinand Jr. and even their kids a little later, to rebuild their lives and participate in the political exercises, where they won. Cory’s son, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III also became president, but he neither touched nor persecuted the Marcses.  

 The ensuing tolerance, leniency, and civility of the two warring families to each other could not be seen as a sort of political alliance. It stems largely from the value system of the ethnic Kapampangan, of which the Aquinos belong, and ethnic Ilocano, of which the Marcoses embrace. The enmity of two opposing families is not supposed to be inherited by their offsprings. It stops at the generation to which it springs. Hence, the young Marcoses and the young Aquinos, although not exactly friends, are not enemies either. They just tolerate each other. There is peaceful existence between the offspring of the two political families.

 The ruling coalition’s last minute but quiet act to adopt Bam Aquino into its slate was definitely an act of political accommodation viewed mainly as the President’s way to spite elder sister Imee, also a senator running for reelection, who broke away from the pro-administration slate to join Vice President Sara Duterte, her brother’s former political ally, who has decided to sever political ties with him and go on her own.   

 The consequences of her decision to leave the ruling coalition and Bam Aquino’s adoption of his senatorial bid by the Alyansa coalition was dismal for the Vice President and Imee Marcos but productive to the President and his coalition. Bam Aquino landed second, while Imee was twelfth. She won by the skin of her teeth. Only six of the Alyansa’s senatorial slate won and Erwin Tulfo was the highest ranking at fourth. Bam Aquino, who landed second, had a larger number of votes than Tulfo.

 It is not clear how Bam Aquino’s informal adoption into the Alyansa slate would evolve after the midterm elections. It is not clear if any quid pro quo is involved. Bam Aquino is reticent about it. It remains not official and nobody would admit it. But Bam is known for his political sobriety. Despite being officially part of the democratic opposition, he does not necessarily engage himself in political mudslinging.

 Curiously, Bam Aquino was used as a leveraging chip in the brewing war between the Marcos bloc and its erstwhile ally which has turned into a bunch of political enemies, the Duterte family. From all indications, the political war between the two families is for real. Rodrigo Duterte is now in prison to face crime against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court. Daughter Sara faces impeachment trial, which will start when Congress resumes its regular session on June 2 and continues when a new Senate convenes as an impeachment court on July 30.

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IT is the height of political irony that the biggest spenders in the last elections hardly won and those in the winning column got their political victory by the skin of their teeth. From all indications, Camille Villar and Imee spent the biggest at over P5 billion and over P4 billion respectively, as shown by the paper trail of their advertisement placements on broadcast media (radio and television), print media (newspapers and magazines), and nontraditional media, including social media like social networking sites like Meta, X, Youtube and others.

 A report of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) cited data of the Nielsen Ad Intel, placing at P3.5 billion the amount of ad placements of Villar and P2.8 billion for Imee Marcos for the period covering January, 2024 to end-March, 2025. Because the two senatorial bets fared badly in subsequent surveys, it could be surmised they spent an undetermined amount for new ad placements covering the remaining 40 days of the political campaign. It could also be surmised that could reach billions of pesos because the remaining 40 days were most crucial for their political victory.

 Camille Villar placed 10th, while Imee Marcos was 12th and last in the winning column. Other senatorial candidates spent billions of pesos but they were not as lucky as Villar and Marcos. Abby Binay, Benhur Abalos, Bong Revilla and Francis Tolentino lost miserably. Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa also spent billions of pesos, but their political victory could be explained not just by their ad placements but a different factor. The China card was said to be the ace in their sleeves. But this is another story.