House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos has given his most detailed public account yet of the horse-trading behind the 2022 "UniTeam" alliance between his father, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and then-President Rodrigo Duterte, saying associates of Duterte demanded control over key government appointments — including the executive secretary, the House speakership, and the Senate presidency — as a condition for backing the elder Marcos's candidacy. Malacañang defended the account on Aug. 10, with Presidential Communications Office press officer Claire Castro saying the president told her his son "will not lie."
According to Sandro Marcos's account, as reported by Rappler and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he and his father went to Malacañang in 2022 seeking Duterte's endorsement, but were met by three unnamed representatives of the outgoing administration rather than Duterte himself. One of them laid out conditions for their support, telling the Marcos camp, in Sandro's retelling, that they wanted to choose the executive secretary, the House speaker, and the Senate president, among "many other demands." Sandro Marcos, now the House's majority leader, described the episode as evidence of a broader "power struggle" that he said he saw coming well before the UniTeam alliance formally broke down, telling reporters, according to the Manila Bulletin, that the falling-out was "hindi dahil sa isang tao kundi dahil sa dami ng mga iba't ibang partido sa paligid" — not because of one person but because of the many different factions involved.
The claim resurfaced days after Sandro Marcos separately said his father rejected a Duterte-camp offer, according to a report carried by PhilNews, though that specific account has not been corroborated by other outlets and Pulpulitiko is not treating it as confirmed. What is multiply sourced, via Rappler, the Inquirer, and GMA News, is the claim about Duterte associates wanting to pick the executive secretary, House speaker, and Senate president in 2022.
Malacañang's response came in the form of an endorsement of Sandro Marcos's credibility rather than independent verification of the events themselves. Asked about the claims on Aug. 10, Castro told reporters that President Marcos said "he has raised his kids well, and his son, Cong. Sandro, will not lie," according to Philstar and GMA News. Neither Duterte nor any of his former aides had, as of this writing, issued a public response confirming, denying, or disputing which specific individuals allegedly made the demands.
The disclosure lands in a political climate already strained by the Marcos-Duterte rupture, the House and Senate flood-control corruption probes implicating allies of both camps, and the ongoing Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Rodrigo Duterte's daughter. Sandro Marcos's account, if accurate, would suggest the UniTeam alliance was transactional and adversarial from its outset in 2022, rather than souring only after the two families' political interests later diverged.
Context
The Marcos-Duterte "UniTeam" ticket won the 2022 elections by a wide margin, but the alliance publicly fractured through 2023 and 2024 amid disputes over confidential funds, foreign policy, and the eventual House impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, which is now being tried in the Senate. Sandro Marcos, the president's eldest son and a first-term congressman representing Ilocos Norte, has become one of the House's most visible defenders of the administration's positions in the dispute with the Duterte camp. No independent documentary evidence — such as meeting records or written correspondence — has yet been published to corroborate the specific 2022 demands he describes; his account rests on his own recollection, relayed publicly nearly four years after the fact.
Sources
- Rodrigo Duterte camp sought key posts in exchange for Marcos 2022 endorsement – Sandro (Rappler)
- Rep. Marcos bares Duterte admin demands in exchange for backing dad in 2022 polls (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- Palace: Marcos said Sandro 'will not lie' on Duterte camp's 2022 conditions (GMA News Online)
- Palace: Sandro Marcos not lying over 2022 'power struggle' story (Philstar.com)
- Sandro Marcos saw UniTeam break-up coming; cites 'power struggle', excessive Palace requests (Manila Bulletin)
