Vice President Sara Duterte and Sen. Imee Marcos. Grabbed from Marcos political ad

MANILA, Philippines – Now “ITIM” makes sense, Inday Trusts Imee Marcos.

After months-long guessing game, Sen. Imee Marcos officially secured the backing of Vice President Sara Duterte after fallout with brother President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and withdrawal from his Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas coalition.

The official political ad posted on Monday (April 14) showed Imee and Sara in black with the reelectionist lawmaker’s message encompassed in its Tagalog translation, “ITIM.” 

Controversial filmmaker Darryl Yap, who also helmed the Marcos family movie ‘Maid in Malacanang” in 2022, first teased about “ITIM” when he uploaded photos showing Marcos and Duterte with him in a studio. They were all wearing black. 

The photos quickly fueled long-held rumors that Duterte is endorsing Marcos. 

The 30-second black-themed ad spoke of supposed dark times in the country because of alleged failures of the Marcos government in addressing issues of hunger, criminalities and injustices highlighting the denouncement of non-allies and the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte. 

“Gutom na ang sikmura, gutom pa sa hustisya. Ginigipit ang hindi ka-alyansa,” Marcos said in the ad material. 

“Marami ang nagsasalita pero sino lang ba ang may ginawa? Sino ang may ginagawa? Marcos said highlighting the explosive Senate probe she launched to investigate the government’s controversial surrender of the former leader to the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

Over the weekend, Marcos announced Sen. Robin Padilla, president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) – Laban’s official endorsement of her reelection. 

The party however has not spoken yet if Padilla’s endorsement means an official adoption of the president’s sister into the slate. 

Marcos officially withdrew from the Alyansa coalition on March 26  shortly after her brother’s non-mention of her name in the campaign sorties almost immediately after her first hearing on the arrest. 

Marcos had earlier claimed that she did not launch the investigation for any endorsement.

The elder Marcos has had a long-standing feud with brother.

The reelectionist senator has been an open critic of many of the administration’s moves such as the People’s Initiative, the 2025 national budget, the vice president’s impeachment and the most recent, the ICC surrender of the 80-year old former president. 

In the Senate probe, Marcos had key government officials push back, finding themselves with conflicting answers as she grilled them on the legality of the arrest focusing on the controversial jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines and the details of the arrest exposing supposed constitutional violations of the rights of the former president. 

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