Disconnected comms team

Managing the messages through controlled engagements does not help to remove the perception of weak leadership in the administration.

Instead of having President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., or PBBM, face the media after the debacle in the Senate race, his communications team opted for a podcast, perhaps believing that it could control the narrative while capturing the attention of the youth.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) data showed 60 percent of the voters who influenced the poll results were younger than 40.

Limited engagement with, or worse, an aversion to, critical media, as seen in the controlled interviews, restricted the Palace communications team’s ability to shape public perception post-defeat.

A reactive posture through the podcast limited the impact of the President’s message, which was to address the public disillusionment with politics and acknowledge specific governance failures.

The communications team wrongly saw the loss as a call to “focus on the people” and avoid the real issues — which were the backlash following President Rodrigo Duterte’s surrender to the ICC and Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment — thus contributing to the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas’ disappointing performance.

Addressing the midterm debacle by focusing on improving government service was a weak response to the cries of persecution, which continued to gain traction, especially with VP Duterte’s looming impeachment trial.

Marcos’s failure to address the negative emotions churned up by his allies’ maneuvers against the Dutertes further alienated voters who saw the administration as not sensitive to their frustrations.

Dismissing the Duterte camp’s appeals as merely corrupt or criminal ignored its underpinnings.

The Palace’s failure to craft a compelling counter-narrative to address such public sentiments, primarily in the Visayas and Mindanao, by highlighting President Marcos’s achievements in the past three years, allowed political rivals to dominate the battle for emotions.

The podcast format, while innovative, lacked the urgency that a meeting with the media would have provided.

Furthermore, the administration’s history of replacing communications secretaries and failing to sustain regular media engagements weakened its credibility and responsiveness.

The reactive responses, at times bordering on the inane, during the regular briefings of the Palace mouthpiece made matters worse for the President.

Moving beyond controlled interviews and engaging critical journalists could ensure a broader reach and credibility.

Palace megaphones rely heavily on their incumbency, leading to an underestimation of the emotional backlash wrought by the ongoing political feud.

The effort to rebuild the administration’s political standing ahead of VP Duterte’s impeachment trial and, ultimately, the 2028 presidential race appears to be sputtering.

A more proactive, media-savvy approach to connecting with the populace will enable the Palace communicators to better navigate the complex landscape in PBBM’s final three years.

Ignoring the emotional backlash from the ICC handover and the impeachment was a colossal blunder.

The administration’s focus on policy and unity failed to counter the populist narrative, which capitalized on regional loyalties.

Among these errors was the failure to anticipate that Sara Duterte’s endorsements, including those of Marcos’s sister Imee, would sway voters by tapping into the sympathy for the Duterte family.

The messaging strategy should draw from the political capital that PBBM still retains.

Three years is enough to cover lost ground, primarily by showing the public that political vendetta and a selective application of justice do not motivate the incumbent’s actions.

It should start with a communications team with fresh ideas and a solid connection to the media, the public’s window to PBBM.