BID BY MARCOS TO REBRAND IMAGE MAY BE PAYING OFF
Named in Time’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ list, president is seen as a key player on world stage and human rights supporter, analysts say
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s efforts at rehabilitating his family image and rebranding himself as more pro-human rights than his predecessor look to be paying off, after Time magazine included him in its list of 100 Most Influential People of 2024.
The magazine’s write-up said Marcos had “elevated the Philippines on the world stage” through a number of measures, including a more technocratic administration, steadying the economy and strengthening its alliance with the United States to counter China’s aggression in the South China Sea.
Cleve Arguelles, a political scientist and head of polling firm WR Numero, said that Marcos’ inclusion was hardly surprising, noting the Philippine president’s positive reception from the international community since his election in 2022.
Arguelles said the recent trilateral summit between Marcos, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida – which focused on strengthening their defensive capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region amid Manila’s maritime disputes with China – had placed the Philippine leader in the international spotlight.
“He’s seen as a very pivotal player on this issue about China, and that occupies a lot of mental space among world leaders,” Arguelles said.
Countries such as the US were encouraged to boost Marcos’ image on the international stage out of geopolitical convenience, he added.
“No one else in Southeast Asia is so pro-US now [than the Philippines]. That speaks to the US’ insecurity in the area because they badly need a reliable ally in this part of the world because of China,” he said.
Marcos’ US-friendly stance is in stark contrast to former president Rodrigo Duterte, who realigned foreign policy towards China and stayed largely quiet about Beijing’s expansionism in the South China Sea.
The current president has also distanced himself from his predecessor’s controversial war on drugs, which rights activists say led to the extrajudicial killings of more than 12,000 Filipinos during Duterte’s administration, mostly among urban poor.
Following a drug bust on April 15 in which authorities confiscated methamphetamines worth 13.3 billion pesos (HK$1.8 billion), locally known as shabu, Marcos said: “This is the biggest shipment of shabu we’ve ever intercepted. But not one person died. Nobody died. No shots were fired. Nobody was hurt.”
Despite this, drug-related killings have persisted since Marcos took office. According to a study by the University of the Philippines, as of April 15, 621 deaths have been recorded since he took office, 42 per cent of which were committed by state agents during anti-drug operations.
The notion that Marcos is more concerned about human rights than his predecessor has gained significant credibility after two staunch critics of the Duterte government gave more favourable opinions about the current leadership.
Former senator Leila de Lima was politically persecuted by Duterte and jailed for more than six years over trumped-up charges before being bailed in November. In February, she said the Marcos administration had provided “breathing room” from Duterte’s “authoritarian regime”.
“Under [Marcos], we are given the opportunity to make use of a democratic space in transition from the authoritarian regime that was Duterte’s,” De Lima said. “This is breathing room from the nightmare that we thought was all over in 1986 [when Marcos’ father fled the Philippines] and never to return again. But it did.”
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa of independent news outlet Rappler said there appeared to be a “lifting of fear” for journalists since Marcos took office. “There has been a lot of problems in the Philippines because fear spreads. But [press freedom] has improved … Is it perfect? Far from it. We still have a lot of work to do,” she said.
Ressa was acquitted of a final tax evasion charge in September. Press freedom advocates had decried the charge against Ressa as being politically motivated by Rappler’s critical coverage of Duterte and the drug war.
However, Arguelles said there was danger in over-celebrating the “bare minimum” Marcos had achieved on human rights.
“If the US and Western leaders are doing this out of geopolitical convenience, I think the danger is that [locally] we do this out of convenience because we want to get rid of the Dutertes. We end up legitimising the Marcoses. But we have to be reminded that they are not friends of democracy, human rights, and liberal values in the Philippines,” Arguelles warned.
Marcos has repeatedly refused to apologise for the well-documented human rights violations that occurred under his father’s 21-year martial law regime – including rampant corruption and the targeting of political opponents, student activists and journalists.
Critics say his presidential campaign used misleading propaganda to rewrite that history in the minds of voters.
Arguelles said Marcos’ efforts to rebrand himself could be about widening his support base, with his relationship with Duterte becoming increasingly antagonistic.
Duterte’s daughter, VicePresident Sara Duterte-Carpio, joined Marcos’ presidential campaign, uniting the supporters of both politically prominent families. In recent months, however, the president and his predecessor have been trading insults and accusations of drug use.
“The Marcoses know that they have to test new ideas, otherwise it’s going to be a problem for them. They know the Dutertes are a significant threat to them, and that they are kings and queens of using public opinion to their advantage,” Arguelles said.
However, Marcos’ attempts to revamp his image do not appear to be helping him win over the public. A Pulse Asia survey found his approval rating had declined from 68 per cent in December to 55 per cent in March.
Arguelles said the president must address domestic issues such as rising prices, hunger and poverty, and jobs to win back public favour.
“If you are failing on the domestic side, I don’t think you can just use the international side to fill in that gap,” he said.
The Marcoses know that they have to test new ideas, [or] … it’s going to be a problem for them CLEVE ARGUELLES, POLITICAL SCIENTIST