Impacts of some social media

David Gates of the singing group called “The Bread” started the lyrics of a song with the phrase "If a picture paints a thousand words". When I asked the internet if Gates wrote this first lyrical line in the subjunctive mood, it described this phrase as “not inherently subjunctive; xx (but) statement of fact or a general truth, not a hypothetical situation”. Indeed, when I viewed the social media posts of Senator Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios "Imee" Romualdez Marcos-Manotoc, hoping to see how the pictures would paint thousands of words, I instead uncovered some carefully hidden “statement of facts and suppressed general truths”. I like to share with you what I discerned from Senator Imee’s FB posts.

Background

The proclamation rally of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas, as its first salvo, was held on February 11, 2025, in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, the known center of the pronounced Marcos bailiwick. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., himself speaking in Tagalog, reminded his fellow Ilocanos that his Manang Imee, former governor of their province is (I now should hurriedly say was) among the candidates for senator of the present dispensation. When the administration senatorial bets were proclaimed in their rally at the National Capital Region (NCR) one week later, President Marcos declared that his candidates, all 12 of them, including his sister Imee, “will stand in the Senate, not to oppose but to propose.”

The big Duterte rallies

A little more than two weeks after the NCR political meeting of the Alyansa, former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), upon a warrant of arrest apparently issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The camp of President Marcos Jr., thought that the incarceration of Duterte was a master stroke. Removing a politician who called our president “bangag” was strategic. Subsequent events showed an unexpected backfire. Amidst the suppressed jubilation of President Marcos Jr.’s camp, shown in the form of pocket street demonstrations, there began to surge much bigger crowds of rallyists throughout the country and abroad denouncing the arrest of Digong as violation of due process. The Duterte supporters so swelled in unimaginable numbers as to look threatening to the candidacies of Marcos’ political allies.

FB caused a turncoat

Senator Imee, the savvy, saw from a flood of social media the impact of the marching Duterte hordes of supporters. The marchers, declared followers of Digong, were overwhelmingly bigger compared to the number of people openly celebrating the arrest of the former president. Imee had to react fast. After observing the huge numerical disparity, she did not want to be caught in the potential stampede. Her best option was to break ties with her brother at the earliest chance. She found an acceptable avenue in calling for a Senate committee investigation on the circumstances surrounding the Duterte arrest. While the inquiry was called legislative investigation, it really was designed to show to the Duterte supporters that she was one among them.

Cutting of political ties

President Marcos Jr. finally saw the somersault of Imee after the latter’s straddling the Marcos and Duterte camps for some time. The presidential sister having seen the thousands of voters chanting “bring home Tatay Digong” probably felt that she would have a bigger winning chance being aligned with Duterte than with Bongbong. Imee’s opportunistic character should not be unknown to her brother. So, in the next Alyansa rally, only 11 candidates for senator were endorsed by the Malacañang occupant. Senator Imee Marcos was not one of them.

Imee’s transfer from Bongbong to Digong was manifestly disloyal. Other observers denounced it as treachery. To many though, Imee was practical and realistic because her jump was compelled by the lure of swirling social media reportage expressing support for Digong. But here is word of caution for the lady senator. While mathematics, in terms of actual count of the warm bodies seen in the rallies seem to favor the Duterte lineup, Senator Imee’s joining it will not necessarily translate to PDP votes for her. It is highly possible that other Digong partisans who might even puke at seeing an obvious opportunist will leave her in the cold. Her having left Alyansa makes her political future more uncertain.