How China became a major policy issue in Philippines’ midterm elections

Pogos, he said, disguised themselves as legitimate entities but in reality ventured into “illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder”.

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Philippine authorities are also confronting China-backed disinformation campaigns favouring the Dutertes and targeting top Filipino officials, including Marcos, ahead of the midterm elections in May 2025.

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Crucially, the Philippines is also seeking Western and Japanese investment, positioning itself as a “China-free” producer of critical minerals such as nickel, as well as a potential site for semiconductor production beyond neighbouring Taiwan.

By including the China issue in a larger package of interrelated economic and social concerns, Marcos and his allies are in a prime position to make foreign policy a major theme in the coming elections, like never before.

Richard Heydarian is a Manila-based academic and author of “Asia’s New Battlefield: US, China and the Struggle for Western Pacific”, and the forthcoming “Duterte’s Rise”