MANILA — Members of the traditional opposition, including Liberal Party, could end up on the administration’s senatorial slate in 2025 if there are points of unity with the newly announced Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas, a political analyst and public administration professor said Saturday.

Speaking on Teleradyo Serbisyo’s “Anong Ganap?”, Dr. Edna Co, a former dean at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance, said politics in the Philippines has usually been marked by the formation of alliances and coalitions. 

“‘Yung pulitika, generally, hindi siya guhitan ng linya, kung hindi pagsama-sama ng mga alyansa ng mga partido [at] ng mga ibang posibleng political players, upang sa gayon maging mas mabigat ang iyong laban,” she said, adding that political parties in the Philippines do not operate in the same way that parties do in other countries.

(Politics, generally, is not about drawing lines, but of coalitions of alliances of parties and other potential political players to increase chances of winning.)

The 2022 elections were swept by the UniTeam alliance of the Philippines’ biggest political parties and political clans, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. saying earlier this week that that unity would continue with the new alliance between his Partido Federal ng Pilipinas and the majority Lakas-CMD party led by his cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez. 

Co said that while there are many political parties in the Philippines, they are not distinct parties “in substance” and are more similar to each other than they are different.

“Naghahanap sila ng paraan kung paano magsasanib, magkakaisa. Basta ang goal is ‘paano kami mananalo’, pero hindi totoo sa substance na political party ito — napaka-fluid,” she said.

(They are looking for ways to merge and unite. The goal is ‘how do we win?’ but they are not a political party in substance — it’s all very fluid.)

In an online exchange with ABS-CBN News earlier in the week, De La Salle University political science professor Anthony Lawrence Borja called the new alliance “a case of coalition-building in a weak party system.”

He added Marcos and Romualdez seem to be "separating the promise of Political Unity from the UniTeam, giving it a coalition that transcends the Marcos-Duterte alliance."

UNITY WITH THE LIBERAL PARTY?

The Liberal Party, a former ruling party that was in the traditional opposition role in during the Duterte administration, can find many points of unity with the Marcos administration, Co said, including on foreign policy.

She said that the LP and the Marcos administration are aligned on issues like sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.

“‘Yung pagtawid sa ibang bansa para sa kooperasyon, that’s a very Liberal agenda,” she said, adding that it is in contrast to the Duterte administration’s focus on bilateral talks with China on a dispute that affects the region.

“In fact, nag-extend ng kamay ang administrasyon para tingnan ang mas malapad na unity sa ibang bansa.”

(Going to other countries for cooperation, that’s a very Liberal agenda. In fact, the administration has extended its hand to explore broader unity with other countries.)

The Duterte administration had a chilly, sometimes hostile, relationship with the West. Then President Rodrigo Duterte, in response to what he said was meddling in domestic affairs, ordered ambassadors from the European Union to leave the country and terminated the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US. He later walked these orders back.

“Palagay ko, bukas yung daan para magkaroon ng daan para sa alyansa,” Co said, pointing out that this would raise LP’s prospects for election victory and could help the administration coalition field a full 12-person slate for the senatorial elections. 

“Napakahalaga na suriin ng LP, anong batayan, anong issue ang nakikita nila sa liberal agenda na dinadala din ng UniTeam,” she said.

(The LP has to assess what issues that the UniTeam is carrying that are also in the liberal agenda.)

Co added that Filipino voters are aware of the fluid nature of parties and coalitions in the Philippines, and that “the deeper issue that they look at is who will carry their agenda” after the elections.  She said that this makes it important for parties to make their proposed policies and solutions clearer to the public.

“Each political party should address ano yung stand nila dito sa mga complicated political issues tulad ng poverty and economic issues,” she also said.

(Each political party should say where they stand on complicated political issues like poverty and economic issues.)

RELATED: Partido Federal, Lakas 'still open' to coalesce with VP Duterte for 2025 polls: Romualdez

DIOKNO: POLITICS MAKES FOR STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

For human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, who has run for senator under an opposition slate, acknowledged that “politics makes strange bedfellows” and members identified with the opposition might share the stage with administration candidates. 

“It’s really hard to say what will happen in the future,” he said, but did not say if he would personally be inclined to join a prospective administration slate if invited. Diokno’s father, former Sen. Jose Diokno, was a human rights advocate and was imprisoned during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.

Diokno is from the Katipunan ng Magkakaisang Pilipino party but said he is grateful for the support he has received from LP members.

“I’m not sure I would classify myself as traditional opposition, ang aking advocacy noon pa ay issue-oriented tayo. That may or may not align with those in power — often it does not — pero para sa akin ay doon po ako sesentro dahil mahalaga sa akin ang aming prinsipyo at core values,” he said in a separate interview on "Anong Ganap?".

(My advocacy ever since has been issue oriented. That may or may not align with those in power — often it does not — but, for me, that is where I am coming from because principles and core values are very important to me.)

READ: Lakas-CMD, NP members welcome alliance with Marcos Jr.’s political party

He said that in advocating for human rights, he has worked with groups and personalities with different beliefs and ideologies, so he is no stranger to coalitions and alliances.

“We’ll have to see what happens as the election comes. Ako ay issues oriented, so kung sino ang aligned sa issues ko, maaring we will be seen as associated with each other, pero I will make my decisions on ano ang tingin ko ay tama at makatarungan,” he said, adding he will also have to weigh how his supporters would view potential alliances.

(I am issues oriented, so if they are aligned with the issues I am pushing, we might be seen as associated with each other. But I will make my decisions based on what I see as right and just.)

“As far as the Marcoses are concerned, matagal na namin sinasabi na kailangan may pananagutan sa mga nangyari sa panahon ng diktadurya, marami pa rin ang hindi nasasagot ng pamilya Marcos,” he also said.

(We have long been saying that there should be accountability for what happened during the dictatorship and there are many issues that the family has yet to address.)

A government Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board has recognized the claims of more than 11,000 victims of rights abuses during the dictatorship while the Presidential Commission on Good Government continues litigation to recover assets from the Marcos family and from cronies. — Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News

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