The Philippines’ political saga continues: The Duterte dynasty and its allies emerged as the clear winner of the May 2025 midterm elections — despite former president Rodrigo Duterte’s pending trial for crimes against humanity and Vice-President Sara Duterte’s February impeachment, which is now in limbo. How did they do it? By taking a page out of the Marcos populist playbook — trafficking lies and conspiracy theories to maintain their grip on power. The real losers, Cecilia Lero argues in a new Journal of Democracy online exclusive, are democracy and human rights.
The midterms are just the latest chapter in a yearslong feud between the Marcos and Duterte clans. The Journal of Democracy essays below plot the twists and turns of the political drama, and explain why it’s really a diversion from meaningful democratic reform.
How the Duterte Clan Is Remaking the Marcos Playbook
Strongman nostalgia, conspiracy theories, and lies. It’s a powerful blend that keeps populists in power. In the Philippines, political clans have weaponized these messages against each other.
Cecilia LeroThe End of the Duterte Dynasty?
The ICC arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is a shocking blow for the Duterte clan, and the Marcos family isn’t letting up. Is this the political last stand for the Dutertes?
Richard Javad HeydarianWelcome to Manila’s Game of Thrones
The struggle between the Marcos and Duterte clans isn’t just a battle between two houses. It is becoming a proxy fight between the United States and China for the future of the Indo-Pacific.
Richard Javad HeydarianWhy Philippine Politics Resembles a Modern-Day Telenovela
Want to distract the public? Little works better than family feuds ripped from soap opera plotlines. That’s how the Marcos and Duterte clans keep people glued to the drama while crowding out democratic reform.
Cecilia LeroThe Son Also Rises
Many feared Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s election would spell the end of Philippine democracy. But the dictator’s son has surprised nearly everyone, playing the role of a reformer while moving fast to sideline his populist rivals.
Richard Javad HeydarianThe Return of the Marcos Dynasty
A half-century after his father declared martial law and made himself a dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been elected president of the Philippines by a stunning majority. There is little stopping him from dismantling what remains of the country’s democracy.
Richard Javad HeydarianSoutheast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Duterte versus the Rule of Law
The first half of President Rodrigo Duterte’s single six-year term saw steady erosion of legal barriers against abuses of power, typified by a bloody and extralegal “drug war.” Yet in midterm Senate elections, Filipino voters gave him a decisive victory.
Björn Dressel and Cristina Regina BonoanSoutheast Asia: Voting Against Disorder
Rodrigo Duterte’s rise to the presidency of the Philippines reflects a broader trend in Southeast Asia of voters favoring politicians who elevate order above law. What does the history of “voting against disorder” in Indonesia and Thailand imply for the future of democracy in the Philippines?
Thomas B. PepinskyThe Vote in the Philippines: Electing A Strongman
The surprise victory of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines’ May 2016 presidential election represents a major shift in the liberal-democratic regime established thirty years ago after the “people power” revolution.
Julio C. Teehankee and Mark R. Thompson
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