In the Philippines, are economic woes spilling into politics as President Marcos Jnr and Duterte hurl insults at each other?

With Marcos Jnr and Duterte now ‘at each other’s throats’, analysts fear their feud could spill over to the economy or result in civil war

Amid their war of words, supporters of both camps gathered at opposing rallies on Sunday, with Vice-President Sara Duterte attending both events

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Supporters of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr attend the kick-off rally for the New Philippines movement at Quirino Grandstand in Manila on January 28. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:29pm, 30 Jan 2024Updated: 1:43am, 31 Jan 2024

A long-rumoured political feud between the families of two of the Philippines’ most powerful politicians – President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte – has burst into the public arena, with the two leaders slinging accusations of drug addiction at each other.

While speaking to a rally of his supporters on Sunday night, Duterte said Marcos Jnr was a certified addict who had been on the government’s drug watch list.

“When I was mayor [of Davao City], the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency showed me evidence. They showed me their list and your name was on it. I did not want to say that because we are friends.”

Duterte, 78, said he was forced to speak out now because Marcos Jnr had put him in a bind and was endangering the country by becoming more closely allied with the United States and against China in his policy towards competing claims in the South China Sea.

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte gives a speech in Davao on Sunday. He is throwing allegations at his successor, Fernando Marcos Jnr, and even raising the prospect of removing him from office, bringing into the open a long-rumoured split between the two. Photo: AP

The former president further warned Marcos Jnr, 66, that should he and his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, continue to try to change the 1987 Constitution through a “People’s Initiative” – which entails getting 12 per cent of the entire voting population, spread out to at least three per cent per voting district, to sign a petition backing the proposed changes – this could “divide the nation” and might lead him to follow in his father’s fate “of being ousted by the people”.

A People’s Initiative is one of the constitutional modes of amending the Constitution but the current one, according to Vice-President Sara Duterte, has been marred with allegations of cash being exchanged for “yes” votes.