🇵🇭 Who has got your back?

Hello friends!

Usually, I’m not too interested in endorsements. They’re rarely surprising, almost rote. An endorsement in this Filipino presidential election, however, means something more. It’s a stand, a firming of divisions laid out during the Duterte administration (and following lines drawn over decades). It’s an odd thing to watch as an outsider: the establishing of ‘sides,’ those walking into power and those preparing for another six years of political and social resistance. There is a big class element at play that has been excellently reported in recent weeks, that I’d like to explore further. But for now, I’ve stuck closely to the things about the Philippines which currently intrigue me the most. That is the Duterte family and religion.  

Tomorrow I’ll be attending the sure-to-be-enormous final Leni-Kiko rally and I’m really looking forward to reporting back on Sunday about that one. From speaking with friends and following along online, the Leni rallies especially seem good-natured and carnival-like so it should be a good time even with Monday looming. 

Stay safe,Erin Cook

Who President Rodrigo Duterte would endorse this year has been a favourite guessing game over these last few years. At one point, Manny Pacquiao, who is trailing the frontrunners on less than 10 percent, seemed the chosen one before a massive falling out between the two pushed him out of the inner sanctum. 

Bong Go, a close ally and staffer to the president all the way back to the late 90s in Davao, briefly ran for president but pulled out very early in the race. "I love President Duterte. I don't want to make it difficult for him... so I am willing to sacrifice for the sake of unity," Bong Go said at the time, as reported by Nikkei Asia. This is ageing oddly. It could be that even in November the team saw the 56 percent writing on the wall and decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. 

Still, Duterte has steered clear of throwing his weight behind the Marcos-Duterte ticket. Even when it comes to daughter Sara in her vice presidential race, the President’s comments are deeply hedged. Last month he formally endorsed her, with the kind of language only a dad is capable of — “I’m going to retire but my daughter is running for vice president. If you think that… Actually, this is the first time that I’m using my name as a father, for my daughter. It’s because we’ve had issues, but she is my daughter.” The two have been at odds since the younger Duterte filed her candidacy last year at which point the pair stopped speaking. 

President Duterte has been very vocal in not wanting her to run. The endorsement is tightly wound in family talk. When it comes to Bongbong Marcos, it’s another story. There is no love lost between Marcos Jr and Duterte, he’s remained officially neutral (even encouraging other lawmakers to follow his lead) and, prior to the campaign really kicked off, promised to reveal why he could not bring himself to support Marcos. The question of whether that was Duterte-bluster or a thinly veiled threat seems to have been resolved with just days left and not a peep from him. 

The closest Duterte can bring himself to endorsement is “indirectly endorsing.” Jacinto Paras, presidential advisor on political affairs, pointed to the PDP-Laban endorsement, the party in which Duterte is the chair. “So, it goes without saying that the president is actually indirectly endorsing Bongbong Marcos. Alam mo ang ating pangulo (You know, our president) is very consistent. He’s a man who follows his words. When he said that he is not endorsing, he is consistent with that,” he said, as reported by the Inquirer. 

While on my enormous-list-of-books-about-Philippines journey, I’ve read Altar of Secrets. It’s a remarkable look at the various scandals of the Catholic Church over the last 30 or so years and it was a baptism of fire (get it!) into the power of the church here. What really struck me, however, was that while church-led campaigns can wield enormous influence on political outcomes there is no bloc voting. 

Which makes the already intriguing Iglesia ni Cristo just that much more fascinating. The independent Christian church has around 2 million members who do participate in bloc voting. Coconuts Manila has an excellent report here outlining why it’s so effective as a bloc: primarily the concept of ‘unity’ is one of the core tenets of the sect and must be adhered to, as is ‘submitting to the will of their church leaders’ with expulsion and other sanctions on the table for those who don’t stick to the rules. So, the endorsement of the Marcos-Duterte ticket is a valuable one but unlikely to have been a game-changer. Still, for believers of the church who don’t support Marco-Duterte, voting another way carries a very heavy penalty indeed. 

If anyone has recommendations on INC reads please let me know — I am fascinated! 

Hundreds of priests have come out to publicly back the Leni-Kiko ticket. It is not an official endorsement and is nowhere near as vocal as the church as an institution, via the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, has been in historical moments of political upheaval. CBCP President, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David has only recommended voting for "candidates who will sustain and strengthen our democracy, uphold the rule of law, and respect the dignity and rights of human beings." It doesn’t take much reading between the lines but falls short of naming names. 

This week a group of 1,400 clergymen, including some bishops, pledged to “no longer stay neutral or apolitical” and issued a statement supporting the Leni-Kiko ticket. AFP spoke with one signatory, Father Flavie Villanueva who, like many priests outspoken on the Duterte war on drugs, has received death threats, said he was motivated to speak up as the vote is dominated by “thieves and murders.” “We cannot remain ignorant about what is happening around us. We have a moral obligation to act as the conscience of the people,” he told the AFP. 

There’s a lot of interesting reporting on endorsements for Leni Robredo down in Mindanao, which the more I learn about the more I know I have no idea what’s going on. If you’re a Mindanao nerd (and I know there are a few out there on this email!) I’m going to hazard a guess you’re already across it. For the curious, casual readers I found this Rappler piece to be an excellent explainer of the Bangsamoro region in the election.