Alyansa campaign chief says VP Sara impeachment backlash tanked Mindanao support

Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign manager Rep. Toby Tiangco pointed the finger at Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment for the alliance’s poor senatorial performance in Mindanao, a region considered a Duterte stronghold.

Tiangco said the political fallout from the House-approved impeachment charges, now pending Senate trial, shifted voter sentiment in the south. He claimed the move alienated Mindanao voters, who overwhelmingly rejected Alyansa candidates seen as connected to or supportive of the impeachment process.

“We know what happened in Mindanao. This all started when the impeachment was filed. Before the elections, we commissioned a survey in November, December, and we have tracked Mindanao,” Tiangco said in an interview on Thursday. “The loss of the Alyansa senatorial candidates is self-inflicted. It should not have happened.”

Tiangco said the alliance’s local partners in Mindanao suddenly found themselves walking on eggshells, unable to campaign openly for Alyansa senatorial bets. He said even pro-Alyansa officials stayed quiet to avoid a backlash from Duterte supporters.

“The damage was self-inflicted,” he said bluntly.

The Vice President was impeached by the House of Representatives last month on charges of abuse of power and alleged misuse of confidential funds. The Senate is set to begin trial proceedings in July.

Tiangco also revealed that some of the lawmakers who signed off on the impeachment did so reluctantly, fearing the loss of budget allocations for their districts.

Malacañang, for its part, reiterated that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is not involved in the impeachment process. Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the executive branch respects the upper house and will allow the Senate to handle the proceedings independently.

Suarez sounds off

However, administration ally and House Deputy Speaker David “Jayjay” Suarez did not subscribe to Tiangco’s theory, pointing out that 86 percent of House members who signed the complaint won their re-election bids. 

"While I do respect the opinions of Toby Tiangco with regards to the matter, although I do not subscribe to it. But of course, as a campaign manager, he probably sees the terrain. He understands it better," he told reporters in a chance interview on Friday. 

Of the 40 Mindanaoan lawmakers who signed Duterte’s impeachment, 26 won re-election in the House, representing 65 percent. Overall, Suarez said 85 percent of the entire House membership retains their seats in Congress.

"First of all, if we look at the winning rate of the congressmen who signed the impeachment, I believe it was 86 percent. So if anyone should be feeling the impact, if there is any, it should be them,” he claimed.

Of the 11-member Alyansa, only Erwin Tulfo, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Camille Villar, and Lito Lapid won the senatorial race. 

However, since Villar skipped multiple sorties of Alyansa during the campaign, not to mention that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered an investigation into the issues plaguing the Villar-owned PrimeWater, speculations have suggested that her loyalty is no longer with the administration.

To recall, Villar got an endorsement from the VP Duterte a month after the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte on the orders of the International Criminal Court, a move highly criticized by the Villars — a key ally of the Dutertes.