Marcos vs. Marcos: The New Front in Philippine Politics

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is under fire for an enormous graft scandal that is unfolding under his watch. One prominent voice is his sister Senator Imee Marcos.President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his sister Senator Imee Marcos at a rally in Laoag City, Philippines, in February. Since then, they have taken swipes at each other in public.Credit...Francis R Malasig/EPA, via ShutterstockDec. 2, 2025, 5:03 a.m. ETThe raucous rally was called by demonstrators to protest one of the biggest corruption scandals in the Philippines. One of the speakers was President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s older sister, who was expected to criticize the plundering of a public works budget under her brother’s watch.But when the sister, Senator Imee Marcos, took to the microphones, she stunned the crowd of tens of thousands. Her speech comprised a laundry list of accusations against her brother, including that he had been taking cocaine since childhood. She did not offer any proof to back up the claim.“I knew he was using drugs,” Ms. Marcos said at the rally in Rizal Park in Manila on Nov. 17. She added that the supposed addiction was the reason for the “flood of corruption, the lack of direction and the many wrong decisions.”Organizers abruptly cut short what had been planned as a three-day event. Her comments came as the corruption scandal has rocked Mr. Marcos’s presidency and ignited large protests that have evoked the demonstrations that toppled the siblings’ father, the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. And, in recent months, Ms. Marcos has aligned firmly with her brother’s chief political rival, Vice President Sara Duterte.ImageAn anti-corruption rally in Manila on Sunday.Credit...Jes Aznar for The New York TimesThe current president, who is known by his childhood name, Bongbong, has denied his sister’s accusations, which echo claims made by former President Rodrigo Duterte.“It’s anathema to talk about family matters in public,” he said, days after her outburst. “We do not like to show our dirty linen in public.” Then he took a swipe: “For a while now, we’ve been very worried about my sister.”Pressed for details in an interview with The New York Times, Ms. Marcos did not present any details about the drug use but claimed a hair follicle test would prove it. Asked if she was calling for her brother’s resignation, she replied, “Perhaps, perhaps.”The siblings projected unity during the campaign for the 2022 presidential election. Ms. Marcos, 70, helped secure an alliance with Sara Duterte that delivered her brother a landslide. But after Mr. Marcos, 68, took office, policy disagreements fractured the political alliance and the siblings’ partnership.“The present government’s become better known for being rudderless and corrupt, and it’s very sad for me to see that,” Ms. Marcos said in the interview earlier this month.ImageSenator Imee Marcos helped her brother secure an alliance with the Dutertes, a partnership that eventually unraveled. Credit...Jes Aznar for The New York TimesThe youngest sibling, Irene Marcos, has stayed out of the fray.“For Imee Marcos, by going against Bongbong, she’s saying: ‘You failed big time,’” said Antonio La Viña, a political commentator. “‘You have failed our father, not succeeded in reviving him. In fact, you made it worse because you’re now one of the most unpopular presidents in the Philippines.’”Late last year, Ms. Marcos urged her brother not to sign the 2025 national budget, flagging possible corruption in the public works allocation. In a national address in July, Mr. Marcos announced that funds had been misused.The dramatic extradition of Mr. Duterte in March deepened the rift. Mr. Marcos complied with an overseas warrant for Mr. Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. Ms. Marcos called the arrest a case of foreign meddling and kidnapping.When the Marcos-Duterte alliance splintered, Ms. Marcos first tried to mediate but ultimately aligned with the Dutertes instead.Ms. Marcos says that she has no higher political ambitions.Still, some analysts said she could have a political future after the end of her brother’s presidency, which is limited to one term under a constitution adopted after their father’s ouster.Ms. Duterte is the favorite to win the next election, and Ms. Marcos could be positioning herself to be a candidate for vice president under her, according to Athena Charanne Presto, a political sociologist. Ms. Marcos, she added, could even have ambitions of being president herself.“She realized that if she’s not going to make a move, she will forever be that presidential relative,” Ms. Presto said of Ms. Marcos, “the sister or the daughter.”SKIP