Recently, the Philippines has become a "hot word" in the Chinese media, because in the South China Sea, with the support of external forces such as the United States and Japan, the Philippines has not only raised its tone towards China, but also made more and more provocative actions. All this is most directly reflected in the words and deeds of Philippine President Marcos. After the US-Japan-Philippines joint exercises, he demanded that China come out for dialogue; he shouted to the outside world to demand that China abide by the verdict of the "South China Sea Arbitration Case"; and he clamored that if other countries attack the Philippine military in the South China Sea, or if the Philippine army suffers casualties, the US military will be invited to intervene.
During a recent trip to the United States, Biden reaffirmed his security commitment to the Philippines in the presence of Marcos. It is precisely because of this that Marcos began to completely "let himself go" and entered a state of madness in provocation against China.
But what Marcos didn't expect was that when he jumped up and down on the front desk, the Philippine government's own "backyard" caught fire. According to the Observer, the conflict between Marcos and former President Rodrigo Duterte's two major political families has intensified, and another rift has recently been added. On the 19th, Marcos's wife, that is, the "first lady" of the Philippines, Lisa, publicly accused the vice president of the Philippines, Duterte's daughter Sarah, saying that when Duterte attacked Marcos as an "addict" at a rally in January this year, Sarah, who stood on the platform for her father, was caught "laughing" on camera.
In response, Lisa accused Sarah of "crossing the line", saying that Sarah was "hurt" to laugh at her husband as a political ally. Since then, Lisa has been deliberately snubbing Vice President Sarah and saying that "there will be no reconciliation unless she apologizes." In this regard, Sarah behaved very indifferently, and when asked about this by the Philippine media, she said that "there is no comment at present". How do you view the contradictions between the Madu family? Let's talk briefly about three topics.
The first, the contradiction between the first lady of the Philippines and the vice president, is public, but it is nothing more than a "sequel".
Sarah is Marcos' partner in the 2022 Philippine election and is a "political ally". But just a year after the Madhu family's honeymoon period, Marcos and Duterte publicly turned their backs. And now, the conflict extends to their wives and daughters. One is the wife of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, and the other is the daughter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
For this "sequel", the Philippine media revealed a lot of plot details.
First, at the send-off party of Marcos's visit to neighboring Vietnam, the first lady and the vice president sat next to each other, and unlike the previous greetings, this time the two faced each other coldly and ignored each other, as if they did not see each other. Someone complimented the first lady for being "dressed up nicely", but she deliberately provoked Sarah by saying "no, I look like an addict" in front of the vice president. When boarding the plane, Marcos was still telling the vice president about things, and the first lady walked straight to the ramp of the plane without etiquette.
Second, during another foreign trip in March this year, Marcos sensed that the atmosphere was not right and reminded the first lady to pay attention to her words and deeds, but Lisa said, "Honey, you have found the wrong person." When you're called an addict, your vice president is laughing, how can this be like a political ally?"
Third, after the first lady repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction, Marcos had an "unusual" move. In the past, he had handed over the day-to-day affairs of the government to Vice President Sarah on each of his foreign trips, but on his most recent trip, Marcos appointed two other government caretakers to carry out the functions of the president. Obviously, it has begun to prevent Sarah.
Second, in the previous episode, there was a direct confrontation between Marcos and Duterte.
Duterte is Marcos's predecessor, the two sides as political allies, the initial cooperation is still very good, Marcos because he can't find a clue on the South China Sea issue, and even appointed Duterte as the "presidential envoy" to visit China, after the old Duterte returned from his visit to China, he personally took it to the presidential palace, and the two sides chatted for more than two hours, in order to reflect the happiness of the cooperation between the two families. Philippine media also believed at the time that Duterte might even be appointed by Marcos as a "special presidential envoy for China" for a long time.
But the good times didn't last long, and only a year later, the two sides directly turned their faces. First, at a rally in his hometown of Davao, Duterte told more than 40,000 supporters, "We met a president who is addicted to drugs, and he has been put on a list of suspected drug users by law enforcement." Later, Marcos also held a rally of up to 400,000 people in Manila to hit back at Duterte, saying that Duterte's previous attacks on him may have been "fentanyl painkillers too much" and was a fool's talk.
After a back and forth, the contradictions between the two were completely public. After that, the Philippine political circles continued to spread the news that "Duterte wants to target Marcos", saying that "someone instigated a military coup and wanted to oust Marcos from power", but Lao Du publicly denied it, saying that he is currently in retirement and does not have such great influence. However, the two later argued over constitutional changes and territorial sovereignty, and Duterte even publicly threatened to promote the "independence" of his hometown of Mindanao. In this regard, some people in the Marcos administration have also come out to speak harshly.
Another thing worth noting. When Duterte was in power, he took too tough "anti-drug" actions, and many drug-related people were killed, and the social and security environment in the Philippines became better, but Lao Du was targeted by the International Criminal Court, saying that he was suspected of "crimes against humanity" and wanted to investigate Lao Du. As a result, the Philippine government withdrew from the ICC in a fit of rage, saying that it interfered in the internal affairs of the Philippines.
Unexpectedly, after Marcos took office, he secretly allowed people from the International Criminal Court to enter the country and secretly investigate Duterte. Some analysts believe that it is obvious that this is Marcos taking revenge on Duterte.
Third, how to develop relations with China and the United States and how to deal with the South China Sea issue is completely different from the approach of Madur and his wife.
During Duterte's administration, he tried to find a balance between China and the United States, the United States is an ally of the Philippines, and Lao Duterte "distanced" a little, asking the Philippine military not to participate in US exercises in the South China Sea, so as not to cause misunderstanding on the Chinese side, and he has been in power for six years, and has not visited the United States once; because of the "South China Sea arbitration", China and the previous Aquino III administration did not get along well, Duterte has come "closer" to China, has visited China five times, and even said to the outside world that "I am more like a friend of China." On the South China Sea issue, the two sides reached a "gentlemen's agreement" and stepped up cooperation in other areas.
When Lao Du left office, his approval rating was still as high as 67%, and no one in the previous Philippine presidents could do it, which also shows that his Sino-US policy and South China Sea policy have indeed reaped benefits for the Philippines and won the approval of the people.
However, after Marcos took office, on the one hand, in order to consolidate the foundation of his administration, and on the other hand, in order to argue with China in the South China Sea, he began to clearly tilt towards the United States, and by increasing the opening of military bases, the United States was drawn into the South China Sea. At present, China and the Philippines are already in a state of "saber rattling" in the South China Sea, and the Philippines is still engaged in military exercises with the United States and Japan in an attempt to put pressure on China with a tough posture.
Even Marcos's sister objected to him doing so and suggested that he "learn from Duterte." When Lao Du talked about this incident, he even said, "When I was in power, there was no quarrel in the South China Sea," and the current government must have been instigated by the United States, "It is the Americans who are saying, you go to fight, don't be afraid, we are behind." However, the United States is not credible at all. It's just that Marcos and Duterte are now on the same page, and I'm afraid Marcos won't listen to his opinions at all.