[Rear View] With the Tulfos rising, is it sundown for the Dutertes and limbo for Manang Imee?

Three political manufacturers stand out from the latest senatorial surveys, just because they signify the previous and the current, and level to the doable way forward for politics: the Tulfos, Dutertes, and Imee Marcos. 

The Tulfo brothers — Mon, Erwin, Raffy, and Ben — are media personalities identified for his or her tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold picture. This model character has endeared them to odd Filipinos disenchanted with authorities inaction and callous officers and desirous to get fast justice on the air. The modus, primarily of Raffy and Ben, is to chilly name authorities officers, bait them into arguments, and press them to behave on a citizen’s grievance. Within the case of Ben, these encounters deteriorate into on-air insults and challenges of fistfights. 

One of these vigilante journalism has confirmed to be such a success with the lots that Raffy was capable of run, and win, as an unbiased senatorial candidate in 2022. He led all pre-election surveys up till the closing moments when he was overtaken by has-been motion star Robin Padilla, who shot to web fame together with his mangling of Eric Clapton’s “Fantastic Tonight” (Clapton ought to have sued).

The notion of Vice President Sara Duterte as president-in-waiting, already battered by physique blows from administration allies, is being challenged by Raffy. He has both tied with the Vice President or is main in presidential surveys which might be 4 years too early. 

Raffy dropped at the Senate the identical broadcaster demeanor and the identical program format. His committee hearings appear like episodes of his widespread present “Raffy Tulfo In Motion” (variety of You Tube subscribers: 28.5 million). He’s a tough-talking populist within the mould of former president Rodrigo Duterte, however he limits his toughness to authorities officers and people in energy. For odd of us searching for his assist, the previous broadcaster shows compassion and empathy, which can be thought of because the model’s promise.  

Compassion and empathy with a troublesome exterior can be the model promise of Erwin Tulfo. A former print and broadcast reporter and anchor, Erwin’s stint as Social Welfare Secretary bolstered this picture: pro-poor, able to assist in case of calamities. And a few congressmen did him a giant favor after they blocked his affirmation. It gave Erwin entry into the Home of Representatives in its place partylist nominee. His political star has risen since then and he’s now reported to be among the many Speaker’s trusted advisers. 

Like Raffy, Erwin has constantly topped pre-election surveys, with Ben closing in. This might be problematic in the long term since it could cut up the Tulfo votes.

However the Tulfos show a  keener understanding of optics and messaging than the Vice President and her staff.

Sundown for the Dutertes?

As this piece is being written, a photograph of the Dutertes — the daddy, sons, and the daughter — has gone viral, a portrait of a contented, stable, admittedly dysfunctional household displaying no seen bruises from months of drubbing. The youngsters are all chill and smiling, whereas the patriarch, his torso lined by a blanket, can solely handle a wince.  

A Duterte will certainly run for senator, whether or not it’s Baste the Mayor or Sara the Vice President, as rumors of her stepping down from workplace to hunt a Senate seat persist. The daddy is predicted to make a comeback as Davao Metropolis mayor, regardless of the seen decline in well being, to chase away a frontal assault, reportedly backed by the Palace, from the Nograles household. The purpose is to guard the bailiwick in any respect prices, for Davao Metropolis that’s the place the Dutertes are anticipated to make a final stand. 

With their allies gone, the Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) virtually at their doorstep, and the heavens exacting righteous vengeance, the Duterte candidate will depend on the loyalty, each familial and tribal, of supporters from Mindanao and the Visayas. However help for the model has been declining, if one had been to place credence on latest surveys of political affiliations and the belief scores of the Vice President.

Revelations of taking part in unfastened with the folks’s cash and her oft-putting public demeanor are seen as contributing to the decline in fairness and help. The positioning of the Vice President as a “higher” selection was ill-chosen, because it solely managed to ask a deeper evaluate of her efficiency and her character.

The place to, Manang Imee?

The midterms haven’t solely been helpful to candidates of the administration but additionally to members of the family of widespread nationwide leaders.

Take the case of Senator Nancy Binay. She was a last-minute addition to the 12-person slate fielded by her father, former vp Jejomar Binay, for the 2013 midterm elections. Nancy Binay was included after Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr. declined to affix the road up in protest over the inclusion of Juan Miguel “Migs” Zubiri, whom he had accused of dishonest within the 2007 elections (Zubiri resigned as senator in 2011 after an election official confirmed there was dishonest, though Zubiri insisted he didn’t cheat). Nancy Binay positioned fifth with over 16.8 million votes regardless of being a political beginner.

Nevertheless, that political truism is being examined by the to this point middling efficiency of the President’s elder sister, Imee Marcos. She has but to take pole place in pre-election surveys. Within the newest Pulse Asia Survey, Imee ranked 10-13, edged out by returning senators and even by first-time nationwide candidate Abby Binay. 

Imee’s tepid efficiency is a head scratcher, what together with her appreciable, if not bonggacious TV advert spending, estimated at north of P150 million, and her kinship with the President.  

Some say it’s due to her picture because the contrarian, pasaway elder sister who’s cozy with the Dutertes, sworn enemies of her brother. In a polarized political surroundings, the place traces have been drawn between Marcos and Duterte supporters and a resurgent North vs South enmity, being cozy with the Dutertes might have turned off true Marcos believers. Her fawning adoration of Vice President Duterte, however, might have been considered insincere and opportunistic by the hardcore DDS, because the buzz is that she needs to push for a Sara-Imee ticket in 2028.  

However the elections are nonetheless seven months away. The marketing campaign interval begins in February 2025, and candidates will probably be making all of the strikes to win, harnessing their political base and motivating voters with TV advertisements, social media operations, and never a small quantity of black ops towards rivals.  

The numbers will certainly change, and who is aware of, a Duterte may barge into the profitable circle, the Tulfos may implode, and Manang Imee might but emerge because the topnotcher, or the Duterte candidate may lose, Erwin overtaken by Ben, and Manang Imee stays in limbo.

Politics has been loopy since 2016, or haven’t you seen? – Rappler.com

Joey Salgado is a former journalist, and a authorities and political communications practitioner. He served as spokesperson for former vp Jejomar Binay.