Philippines’ Marcos Jnr forges alliances, hands out cash aid as he gears up for midterm elections

On May 8, as the Philippine armed forces made history by firing their first ever acquired anti-ship cruise missile during high-profile war games, the country’s top official was noticeably absent inside the military command centre.

Instead, Marcos Jnr was preoccupied with forging a major political alliance, marking the start of his efforts to consolidate political forces and secure a victory for his party in next year’s midterm elections.

Those efforts have included the creation of several strategic partnerships and other manoeuvres analysts say are meant to project unity and bolster his influence while the loyalty of his allies remains uncertain.

PFP has 13 members in the House and none in the senate but claims to have 43 per cent of all governors as members.

On May 18, Marcos Jnr’s PFP signed another alliance with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) chaired by former senate president Vicente Sotto III.

The president had signalled on May 2 that he was open to forging an alliance with the Nacionalista Party, controlled by the Villar family which Forbes magazine listed earlier this year as the second-richest in the country.

In between, the president criss-crossed the southern island of Mindanao to personally hand out over 10,000 pesos each in cash aid to select farmers, fishermen and poor families hit hard by the drought caused by El Niño, for a total of 478.8 million pesos (US$8.2 million).

His personal dole-outs were eagerly received and several hundreds crammed the events despite tight security.

Monday saw the most palpable demonstration of Marcos Jnr’s influence as he orchestrated the ousting of senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, primarily by senators who had gained their seats with the president’s backing.

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