The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) convened a high-level roundtable discussion on 4 April in Taguig, Metro Manila to examine key political and electoral developments ahead of the 2025 Philippine midterm elections. The event brought together political leaders, academics, and journalists to unpack critical issues shaping the country’s political landscape.
Central topics included the intensifying rift between the Marcos and Duterte camps, the preparation of the political opposition for the 2028 presidential elections, and the realities of campaigning in the Philippines. Speakers also addressed the growing influence of social media, persistent concerns over election fraud, and the urgent need for political and electoral reforms.
Renowned broadcast journalist Pia Hontiveros moderated the discussion, guiding the conversation across multiple sessions featuring diverse perspectives from across civil society, academe, and political institutions.
Duterte bloc’s opposition claim, Liberal Party’s 2025 election goals
Erin Tañada, acting president of the Liberal Party (LP) and former member of Philippine House of Representatives, opened the discussion by criticizing the fractured state of Philippine politics, now dominated by the rivalry between two former allies: the Duterte and Marcos camps.
Tañada pointed to the disintegration of the UniTeam alliance, which secured a decisive victory in the 2022 national elections through the Bongbong Marcos–Sara Duterte ticket. Just three years later, that coalition has collapsed, with the Duterte faction now claiming to be the opposition—a claim met with public skepticism.
“Opposition to what? What are you fighting for? What are you opposing?” Tañada asked, referencing the widely shared sentiment questioning the Duterte bloc’s new oppositional stance after having campaigned and elected with Marcos.
Tañada also reflected on the state of the LP, which supported former Vice President Leni Robredo in her 2022 presidential run. He suggested that Robredo’s chances might have improved had Sara Duterte pursued a separate presidential bid, potentially dividing the pro-administration vote.
Highlighting the LP’s struggles, Tañada noted a sudden drop in its membership since the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, attributing the decline to the common practice of politicians defecting to the ruling party. Following Duterte’s victory in 2016, many LP lawmakers joined the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), leaving the LP with only six House members and no senators after the 2022 elections.
Despite these setbacks, Tañada remains hopeful. He outlined the party’s modest goals for the 2025 midterm elections: winning one Senate seat and doubling their House representation as part of a longer-term strategy toward the 2028 presidential race.
Persistent Fraud, Disinformation in Philippine Polls
Danilo Arao, convenor of Kontra Daya (Against Fraud), raised alarm over the persistent irregularities and systemic flaws in the Philippine electoral system.
Speaking on behalf of one of the country’s youngest election watchdogs, Arao detailed ongoing concerns about election fraud, disinformation, and elite dominance. Despite the Philippines adopting an automated election system in 2010, Arao said that issues of transparency, machine reliability, and contract integrity remain unresolved.
He highlighted that systems supply firms like F2 Logistics and Miru—both previously linked to administration allies—continue to win election-related contracts, raising conflict-of-interest concerns. The source code of vote counting machines remains proprietary, and ballot printing and storage processes lack public oversight. “Vote counting machines consistently break down on election day,” Arao added.
Disinformation, particularly historical denialism and red-tagging, is a growing threat, he said. Red-tagging—branding individuals or organizations as communist sympathizers—has resulted in harassment, arrests, and even killings. Of the 94 campaign violations recorded by Kontra Daya in its initial 2025 election monitoring, 64% were red-tagging cases.
Arao also criticized the misuse of government resources, citing barangay officials and public schools being used for partisan campaigning. He noted legal loopholes such as premature campaigning and the strategic use of placeholder candidates—though the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has begun tightening regulations in response.
A key concern was the continued domination of political dynasties and business elites in both district and party-list races. According to Kontra Daya’s research, 86 out of 156 accredited party-list groups—over 55%—are linked to powerful families, big businesses, security forces, or have questionable advocacies and transparency.
To address these issues, Arao outlined five key reforms:
Election reform is not just a domestic issue, Arao stressed. “Liberal and democratic parties in different parts of the world can help out in terms of changing the election system or making a dent to make sure the marginalized and underrepresented will get their due.”
Disinformation, Social Media, and the Fight for Philippine Democracy As the Philippines enters another critical political season, the battle for truth may no longer be fought in municipal plazas or newspaper columns. Journalist Mara Cepeda, Philippine Correspondent for The Straits Times, delivered a stark warning about the immense influence of social media in shaping public opinion—and in facilitating disinformation.
Cepeda described how platforms like TikTok and Facebook have transformed political campaigning and voter engagement, often to the detriment of truth and democratic processes. “Filipinos are among the most active internet users globally,” she said, citing 97.5 million online users. “We love TikTok. We love Facebook. Gen Zs don’t read newspapers anymore—they just rely on what pops up on their feeds.”
This heavy reliance on algorithm-driven news feeds makes Filipinos particularly susceptible to manipulation. According to Cepeda, the Philippines served as the testing ground for the same tactics later used by Cambridge Analytica to help Donald Trump win the U.S. presidency in 2016. Whistleblower Christopher Wylie even described the Philippines as a “petri dish” for disinformation.
Cepeda traced the roots of this digital disinformation strategy to the 2016 campaign of Rodrigo Duterte, who weaponized social media by favoring “emotion over facts.” Duterte bypassed traditional media by using raw, unfiltered messaging and an army of micro-influencers and paid troll farms to spread his populist appeal. “He was like your drunk uncle,” Cepeda remarked, “and people connected with that.”
This well-oiled disinformation infrastructure was then inherited and optimized by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during his 2022 campaign. Cepeda said Marcos Jr. ran “a well-funded campaign to bury the past and sell a fake unity message.” His team strategically branded Martial Law as a “golden age” and crafted an online persona of Marcos as a “cool uncle”—a sharp contrast to his family’s authoritarian legacy.
A key element of this digital strategy is the creation of algorithmic echo chambers that reinforce existing biases. “Sensationalist and divisive content go viral,” Cepeda said. “Legitimate news organizations can’t compete with armies of trolls.” The 2022 election loss of opposition candidate Leni Robredo, despite overwhelming online visibility among her supporters, was a clear case in point. “Why did Robredo lose when all my feeds were pink?” she recounted. “Because that was just the echo chamber of the minority.”
Pro-Duterte and pro-Marcos influencers—such as Thinking Pinoy, Mocha Uson, and Sass Sasot—also played a central role in shaping online discourse, discrediting critics, and boosting the image of administration-backed candidates.
Despite this bleak digital landscape, Cepeda ended on a positive note: “All hope is not lost… The good fight is always worth fighting for.” She emphasized the need for journalists to adapt their storytelling for platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, while maintaining the integrity of their reporting.
She also called for stronger media literacy among the public, stricter regulation of online political content, and greater accountability from tech platforms. “All journalists cannot do it alone,” Cepeda said. “Every Filipino has a responsibility to fight for democracy.”
Electoral Reforms Key to Defending Democracy In a powerful call to action following Cepeda’s presentation, former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner Luie Tito Guia emphasized the urgent need for political and electoral reforms in the Philippines to safeguard democracy and restore public trust in governance. Guia painted a grim picture of the country’s electoral landscape—dominated by political dynasties, patronage, and unchecked campaign spending. “There is no democracy if people do not have real and meaningful choices,” Guia declared, echoing concerns over the limited options voters face, often reduced to choosing between members of entrenched political families. He noted that the influence of money and violence continues to taint elections. “Our elections are also… characterized by the unmitigated influence of money,” Guia said, warning that these practices marginalize ordinary citizens and discourage genuine democratic participation. Guia identified weak institutions as another core issue: from a fragile political party system to outdated laws and declining credibility in electoral bodies. The country’s main election law, still based on a 1985 statute, predates the 1987 Constitution. “Public trust in elections is eroding due to poor governance outcomes,” he said. “There is a disconnect between elections and governance.”
To address these systemic failures, Guia laid out a roadmap for reform. First, political party development is needed to encourage issue- and program-based politics, instead of personality-centered campaigns. “Our own constitution incentivizes personality-oriented politics,” he noted. Second, updating campaign finance laws should be revisited, citing the lack of donor contribution caps. “There are limits on candidate spending but no cap on donor contributions,” Guia emphasized. And lastly, there is a need to modernize election administration and improve the use of technology, despite lingering public distrust. “Technology is essential, but it’s often viewed with suspicion,” he emphasized.
Despite ongoing institutional challenges, Guia recognized the current COMELEC’s strides in promoting electoral accountability. He praised recent measures including:
“These are unprecedented and necessary steps,” Guia said, noting that red-tagging is now officially a prosecutable offense—a first in Philippine electoral history.
Guia also encouraged COMELEC to further reform campaign finance regulations, strengthen enforcement mechanisms, and redesign the electoral system. He cited the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region as a potential model, which employs proportional representation and provides reserved seats for marginalized sectors—a structure that, he argued, is more inclusive and democratic.
Gaps in Political Education, Voter and Constitutional Literacy
The last speaker, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman Senior Lecturer Francis Dee, highlighted critical shortcomings in the country’s political education system, citing a lack of constitutional instruction, weak voter education strategies, and growing student apathy. Speaking from his experience as a political science educator, Dee outlined “four and a half points” on the role of the academe in promoting democratic literacy.
Dee began by underscoring what he described as a “glaring omission” in higher education: the absence of dedicated constitutional courses in general education curricula. “There isn’t a course that is devoted to the Constitution in our general education,” he said, noting that even at UP, constitutional instruction is only provided if required by a specific program.
On voter education, Dee called for a shift from character-focused criteria to practical voter literacy. “Voting is a difficult exercise in the country,” he said, arguing that education efforts should first teach the mechanics of voting such as how ballots work and how many candidates to vote for before delving into ideal leadership qualities.
Third, he also raised concerns about universities becoming ideological echo chambers. “You don’t hear people arguing in good faith from the opposing camp,” Dee observed, warning that this may deepen political polarization. He added that misinformation is becoming more effective when it aligns with existing biases—even among progressive groups.
Despite these challenges, Dee cited UP’s general education course on political thought as a positive example of how political philosophy can be used to instill constructive civic values. “The education system isn’t broken, but it could be better,” he said, advocating for more exposure to the ideas behind democratic institutions rather than rigid value prescriptions.
In his “half point,” Dee pointed to a troubling trend in youth political disengagement, particularly the rise of abstentions in student council elections. He noted that while young people were highly mobilized in the 2022 national elections, their growing frustration with political outcomes may now be translating into apathy.
He concluded by urging educators and researchers to reevaluate the role of schools in fostering politically aware and active citizens amidst a polarized and misinformation-prone environment.
CALD Electoral Initiatives
The Roundtable serves as a vital platform for sharing strategies, challenges, and political developments across the region. As part of its broader commitment to electoral transparency and regional cooperation, CALD has also organized a series of election observation missions in previous years, most recently in Taiwan and Indonesia in 2024, as well as in Thailand in 2023.
CALD continues to strengthen regional democratic engagement through its election roundtable initiatives and election missions, which offers member-parties timely updates on national elections and insights into fellow members participating in electoral contests.
These efforts highlight CALD’s ongoing work to promote free, fair, and informed democratic processes among its network of liberal and democratic parties in Asia. |
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