Imee Marcos Claims the Family Legacy

Imee Marcos campaigning in Mindanao, May 2025 | Photo: Senator Imee R. Marcos on Facebook

In an article by New Mandala, Athena Charanne R. Presto asserts that while the Marcos dynasty maintains power over Philippine politics, the family’s cohesion is faltering, as newly re-elected Senator Imee Marcos lays claim to the family’s political legacy held by her brother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Philippine Senator Maria Josefa “Imee” Marcos-Manotoc has emerged as a tactically disruptive actor in the aftermath of the midterm elections held on 12 May. While her younger brother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., faces a weakened mandate after his congressional allies underperformed relative to expectations, Imee is making calculated moves to distinguish herself and reposition the Marcos name in a way that bolsters her own ambitions.

When Bongbong won the 2022 presidential election—becoming the first president elected with a majority, as opposed to plurality, of the vote since the democratic restoration in 1986—political observers widely expected a consolidated effort from the Marcos kin to sanitise the family name at the government level. But that expectation was subverted with Imee’s explicit alliance with self-proclaimed “opposition” leader, Vice President Sara Duterte, positioning Imee as a more vocal counterweight to her brother’s political agenda.

The midterms are usually considered a referendum on a current administration and a proxy for public sentiment. On 12 May, discontent over the Marcos administration was apparent through the results. Of the administration-backed senatorial candidates, only a few won seats in the 12-member upper house: Erwin Tulfo (who finished 4th), Ping Lacson (7th), Tito Sotto (8th), Pia Cayetano (9th), and Camille Villar (10th, with Villar also getting a last-minute endorsement from Sara Duterte).