Marcos vs Duterte family feud drags both political dynasties’, and the Philippines’, names through the mud

Rodrigo Duterte has called his successor a ‘crybaby’ after setting his attack-dog allies on Marcos Jnr over the South China Sea … and his first lady

As the two trade jibes over drug-use accusations, the feud doesn’t appear to be doing either family’s – or the Philippines’ – reputation any good

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Rodrigo Duterte (left) stands beside his incoming successor, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, at Vice-President-elect Sara Duterte’s oath-taking rite in Davao city, in June 2022. Photo: AP

Published: 10:30am, 17 Apr 2024Updated: 10:31am, 17 Apr 2024

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s tumultuous relationship with his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte is unlikely to improve, analysts say – and it could even worsen, given the firebrand ex-leader’s increasingly virulent attacks on his replacement.

That the two men would clash was inevitable, according to Jean Encinas-Franco, a political analyst from the University of the Philippines Diliman, because the alliance their families made in 2022 was “to win the election at any cost – and that’s it”.

When asked about his relationship with the Duterte family, Marcos Jnr admitted at a forum on Tuesday: “it’s complicated”.

Speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, the president said: “The one I have the most contact with is [Vice-President Sara Duterte] – and how we were during the election, [and since then] it hasn’t really changed.”

The Marcos and Duterte families became allies in 2022 when Sara, the daughter of ex-president Duterte, joined Marcos’ campaign in what proved to be a winning combination for both candidates.

Since then, the bond between the two clans has become increasingly fractious – with plenty of invective being hurled at the Marcos family by the former president and his supporters.