@ansy1968 @Bellum_Romanum and any other members in the Philippines - are you able to give a summary of yesterday's elections, the winners/losers, and what it will mean for the Marcos/Duterte rivalry as well as foreign policy vis a vis China? Much appreciated!
Sorry for the late reply, I've been immerse with the Pakistani and Indian conflict these last few days and need my daily dose of laughter therapy from both Bharat rakshak and Pakistan defense forum, so please forgive me.
Okay the result, I'll just give an example,
this incumbent Senator Francisco Tolentino who is a political butterfly and run on the Anti China campaign in the SCS had lost bigtime. It only show's that the SCS issue is not on the forefront of concern among Filipinos and Marcos Duterte debacle is one of the reason for the defeat of the majority of the administration candidate.
About Francisco Tolentino and his campaign strategy after jumping ship from Duterte to Marcos.
He ran as a candidate of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas in the 2025 elections. He was also an administration candidate in 2019, under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration slate.
Since the start of the official campaign period, Tolentino had struggled with his preference numbers, often ranking just outside the list of statistically probable winners in various surveys.
Fellow Alyansa bets, especially those who topped preference polls, had doubled down on campaigning for survey laggards like Tolentino in the homestretch of the campaign.
On the campaign trail, Tolentino pitched himself as a candidate who stood against China and its
. As chairperson of the Senate’s Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones, Tolentino spearheaded the passage of the
twin laws that operationalized the
.
2 days ago —
Tolentino fashioned himself as a legislator who stood up against China and its bullying in the West Philippine Sea.