The unthinkable is evolving into a marriage of convenience between the camp of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the resurgent Liberal Party, which have been on opposite poles since the 1986 Edsa Revolt that ousted the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Aimed at countering the invincible influence of the Duterte family, four members of the Liberal Party have joined the “supermajority coalition” that supports the administration.

The “supermajority bloc” includes House members who belong to Lakas-CMD, the Nacionalista Party, National Unity Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, and the Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc.

However, political and ideological incongruities and opportunistic underpinnings are proving to be key hurdles to the fragile alliance.

The supermajority coalition prioritizes continuity and patronage.

In contrast, the LP, despite being described as politically bankrupt and dead, which resulted in its pink repackaging in the 2022 elections, remains the standard-bearer of liberal democratic ideals.

Its death knell was sounded during the term of the late President Noynoy Aquino when it was associated with hypocrisy and insensitivity.

The LP platform, as articulated in its 2025 electoral strategy, emphasizes good governance and opposition to the authoritarian tendencies exemplified by the Duterte regime, particularly its brutal drug war and the erosion of democratic norms.

Nonetheless, the Dutertes’ dominance in shaping public opinion has become a critical test for the administration, particularly after the debacle of the midterm polls, in which only five Marcos allies made it to the Senate.

It seems the LP is willing to risk principle in exchange for expediency, while the administration is willing to accept any increase in its numbers in Congress.

Partnering with a party demonized as elitist and “yellow” could backfire on its mostly populist base, particularly those swayed by the Dutertes’ anti-elite rhetoric.

The alliance’s formation appears driven by a shared interest in countering the Dutertes whose political influence remains formidable despite Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in connection to his drug war.

The 2025 midterm elections underscored the Dutertes’ resilience, with Rodrigo and his son Sebastian securing the mayoral and vice mayoral posts in Davao City, and key allies like Christopher Go and Ronald dela Rosa dominating the Senate race.

The recent election successes, despite the formidable odds, coupled with Vice President Sara Duterte’s potential presidential ambition in 2028, are considered a direct threat to Marcos’ political dominance and the LP’s hopes of reclaiming its relevance.

The collapse of the UniTeam alliance, which formed the formidable alliance between Marcos and Vice President Duterte fueled the realignment.

The LP, decimated in recent elections and struggling to regain its footing, sees an opportunity to capitalize on the growing fracture between the political giants.

The LP offers a veneer of democratic legitimacy and access to urban, middle-class voters who remain wary of the Dutertes’ authoritarian populism, but such an alliance is inherently unstable.

The fragile alliance is further hampered by the LP’s weakened grassroots presence, which limits its ability to mobilize voters effectively against Dutertes’ well-entrenched political machine in Mindanao.

The Dutertes’ enduring popularity poses a formidable challenge to the Marcos-LP alliance. The Dutertes retain a loyal base, particularly in Mindanao, where their brand of populist governance, anchored on law and order, resonates with voters disillusioned by the perceived elitism of liberal democracy.

The 2025 elections demonstrated that the Dutertes’ political capital remains intact. Their allies secured significant victories, signaling that their influence extends beyond the patriarch’s legal troubles.

The alliance’s strategy to portray the Dutertes as a threat to democratic institutions may backfire and put both the administration and the LP in deeper trouble than they started with.