The Liberal Dilution of the “Opposition”

by Rap Abacan

We all saw it coming: the inevitable sinking of the once-titanic UniTeam of President Bongbong Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, and the scramble that followed afterwards of those seizing the chance to baptize themselves as the new opposition. It spared no one from the right, left, and center of the political spectrum. The Duterte camp have assembled their own version of the “opposition” camp — composed entirely of themselves. Former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has claimed that since Vice President Duterte has been freed from the constraints of the Uniteam, she is now free to become the new standard bearer of the “opposition”.

The list will go on as the rest of the year unfolds. But what does an “opposition” really mean at this crucial time in history where seemingly, the only two families wrestling for the highest positions of power are ones who are responsible for grave crimes against our people? Spoiler alert: they are not the only options we have, and a true opposition slate needs to be made of stronger stuff. Definitely not of pliable morals.

Opposition or Opportunism?

Traditional elite politics will always turn back to hollow rhetoric to create the façade for something significant — especially evident in the attempt of both camps to promise greater change, after labeling the other as Public Enemy Number One and themselves the “opposition”. This ridiculous and shameless example of opportunism comes as no surprise to anybody. Change is Scamming ika nga!

As if all of that is not enough, a more insidious manifestation of the tendencies of the elite ruling class is playing out beyond the Palace. Perhaps the most disappointing kind are those parading themselves as progressives while milking the support of those in real struggle. Let us turn our attention towards the leftovers of the pink yellow Liberal movement.

A brewing alliance between the Liberal Party and the Marcoses

For the past few weeks, the remnants of the splintered Liberal Party struggling to remain relevant by holding on to becoming the opposition are seen inching closer and closer to the current Marcos administration. During an interview on Facts First with Christian Esguerra, former political prisoner Leila De Lima declared that the Liberal Party would remain the opposition… while also looking to find certain unities with the administration! In her own words, “Hindi naman marami ang mga areas, o mga issues na meron kaming major struggle or major issues sa current administration.”

Not long after, former Senator Sonny Trillanes, an ally and member of the 2022 Kakampink senatorial slate, even suggested openly that the Liberal Party “opposition” should join the Marcos slate for the 2025 Senatorial Elections in order to thwart a much-feared return of the Dutertes, considering that there are three Duterte candidates possibly up for election. Moving from a mere tactical unity on certain issues to a full-on political alliance with the Marcos camp — the times are certainly changing for the worst.

Finally, and what should very well be the most tragic sign of the compromising character of liberals former Vice President Leni Robredo, the North Star of the Kakampink Movement that mobilized thousands of students, activists, professors, farmers, community members, church leaders, and business elites, to a broad movement against the return of the Marcoses to Malacañang gave her awaited answer to the question of whether or not the Liberals and the Marcoses should unite to defeat the Dutertes.

To answer the question, she first said that her organization was actually working with the administration on different projects already in a technical capacity. She then said that the Marcos administration’s values and her party’s values were so misaligned. She added that she was open to “anything for the country” but it would be difficult to unite due to differences in values and that these would have to be settled if they were to work together.

UniTeam 2.0

How do you settle differences if those differences mean withholding Php 203 billion in unpaid estate taxes which the Supreme Court ruled with finality? How do you settle differences about the history of Martial Law which to this day, the Marcos family refuses to acknowledge and systematically seek to revise through bad films, fake news, and paid troll farms? How do you settle differences when the very elite rule that the entire Kakampink movement sought to defeat in the 2022 elections is the exact same brand of politics forwarded by the Marcoses themselves? How do you settle differences with an administration which has seen nearly a hundred labor activists killed? How do you settle differences with an administration responsible for the rapid expansion of militarization in the Philippines by taking part in the growing threat of an imperialist proxy war?

How can you say you fight for good governance when this administration fights for elite governance?

The answer is that you cannot merge with the enemy. You cannot simply “settle differences” as if you had a simple misunderstanding with your neighbor over your noisy karaoke machine. The difference is fundamental. The difference between the true opposition and the Marcoses is that the movement that sought to revive popular democracy in the Philippines was decidedly anti trapo, anti-elite, pro-masses, and pro-worker.

I would have to agree with former Senatorial candidate Atty. Luke Espiritu on this matter, as he put it in an interview on Facts First: the opposition movement during the 2022 national elections sought to counter old traditional elite political rule with a new politic. The suggestions floated by liberal-right wing opportunists would reduce the opposition to a mere appendage–instead of defeating the Marcoses and Dutertes while they are at a weak point, it will only strengthen them further, beyond this upcoming election.

In the historical moment before us when the Marcos dynasty and Duterte dynasty face these major crises, it is up to a united progressive opposition to champion an alternative vision for the Philippines.

The Real Opposition

The political conditions will continue to shift in these last crucial months before midterms. We may not know yet what the opposition will need to look like, but we do know what it should not be: supposed “progressives” in alliance with the Marcoses who have yet to pay for their crimes against the Filipino people.

This sentiment may be decades-old, but people need to be reminded of it more often than not: let us stop pandering to the false dichotomy. This is not a boxing match that requires us to pick a side to support — we outnumber them too much to keep playing their game. The true opposition is whoever sides with the Filipino people’s struggles for basic rights, living wages, accessible quality healthcare, and peace built on justice.

If the supposed “progressive” candidates from the last elections even so much as consider an alliance with everything the Filipino people has fought against, they have lost the right to call themselves the opposition. They are no different. They are just another traditional political party desperate for power.

Dr. Rap Abacan graduated from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health in 2019 and worked for 3 years in South Cotabato as a rural health physician in the Doctor to the Barrios Program of the DOH and at the same time completing his Master of Public Health in UP Manila in 2023. He is currently a primary care physician at the UP Diliman University Health Service.

This is a contributed article.