IT was the midnight of March 11, and everyone was looking for the president. Demonstrations erupted across many parts of the country. Some people were raging online, while others were celebrating. 

It came to the point where a hashtag, “#NasaanAngPangulo,” trended online—a phrase that keeps trending every time critics are looking for former President Rodrigo Duterte’s whereabouts during key national issues. Now, it is trending because of Bongbong, his successor.

This time, it was a different story. The question was flipped: Where is Duterte? And where is President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.? All eyes were on the presidents—both the former and the current.

A long day for the Dutertes

Before that night, it had been a very long day for the Dutertes, his allies, and his supporters. Upon his return to Manila after attending a sortie in Hong Kong, former chief executive Duterte was deplaned and arrested by the Philippine police under the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court through Interpol over the alleged crimes against humanity due to his “bloody war on drugs.”

It was a chaotic, if not violent, and hours-long refusal and questioning inside Villamor Air Base where Duterte was temporarily held before he was brought to a Gulfstream G550 jet that would later transfer him to The Hague in the Netherlands.

In the middle of all this, die-hard Digong supporters were looking for Marcos. Why was he allowing a foreign warrant to arrest Duterte? The Philippines is no longer part of the ICC; how is that possible?

These are just some of the questions bugging social media.

Hours after Duterte was flown to the first leg of his flight going to The Hague, Marcos, in a press conference, said that despite the Philippines not being a member of the ICC, it was the ICC that asked for help.

For years, even before he won the presidency, Marcos had been adamant that the Philippines would not rejoin the international tribunal. However, the country’s commitment to Interpol, which the ICC reached out to in order to execute the warrant, prompted the Philippine government to surrender Duterte to the international tribunal.

“Interpol asked for help, and we obliged because we have commitments to Interpol which we have to fulfill. If we don’t do that, they will not—they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad,” Marcos said.

“This is what the international community expects of us as the leader of a democratic country that is part of the community of nations,” he added.

The Marcos-Duterte fallout

The arrest baffled supporters and the Dutertes more, worsening the political war that had begun over a year ago, when both camps staged separate rallies: one for the “Hakbang ng Maisug” in Davao to oppose charter change while the other, is the kick-off of “Bagong Pilipinas,” the brand of the Marcos government, replacing the “Laging Handa.”

Vice President Sara Duterte was seen attending both rallies amid the heat of speculations of a rift between the two top officials. However, the plot thickened when the older Duterte became categorical and called Marcos “bangag” (high on drugs), while Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte also called on the chief executive to step down if he doesn’t love the country.

Following the rally, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos was caught on camera snubbing the Vice President on her way to the airplane for the state visit to Vietnam with President Marcos. This incident led most supporters to confirm that the Dutertes and the Marcoses had already severed their ties, less than halfway through their terms.

Waning public trust, approval ratings

In a recent PUBLiCUS Asia survey, conducted from March 15 to 20, three days after the Philippine government turned over Duterte to the ICC, Marcos’ approval and trust ratings dipped to an all-time low in three years, dropping from 19 percent to 14 percent.

According to the survey, Marcos’ approval rating dropped from 33 percent to 19 percent, with a disapproval rating peaking at 57 percent.

Publicus is owned and managed by political strategist Malou Tiquia, a staunch Duterte supporter.

Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte logged an improved approval rating from 37 percent to 42 percent, while her trust rating increased from 31 percent to 39 percent.

PUBLiCUS Asia said that the vice president was the only top official “to see an improvement” in her approval ratings during the said quarter, adding that this result suggests a “deeper public divide” in the ongoing rift between the Marcoses and the Dutertes.

Just in January, Marcos boasted about a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which found that 59 percent of adult Filipinos were satisfied with his performance, while 23 percent expressed dissatisfaction and 17 percent were undecided.  

The SWS survey results indicated that the Marcos administration maintained a ” good ” net satisfaction rating.”

Marcos said the survey results further motivated him to work even harder for the Filipino people. 

“Of course, it’s very encouraging. Siyempre lalakas ang loob namin para patibayin pa, pagandahin pa namin ang trabaho namin,” he said.

“It’s always good to see that what we are doing is reaching most – the majority of people at nararamdaman naman nila ‘yung mga aming ginagawa,” he said.

‘False info’ plagues online presence of Bongbong, wife Liza

At the same time, the chief executive likewise faced the toll of surrendering Duterte to the ICC, as supporters flocked online to berate Marcos for allowing the arrest of the former president.

For quite some time, Marcos benefited from the barrage of fake news online, which paved his way to winning the presidency. However, this time, he and his wife have become the subjects of fake news that erode their public support over the whole month of March.

Republika News digital scanning showed that most Duterte supporters, dubbed as DDS, went after the page of Ferdinand Marcos to post angry and laughing reactions following the former chief executive’s arrest.

The First Lady likewise became a target of alleged “false information” online as she was accused of being detained in the United States in connection with the recent death of Rustan Commercial Corporation heir Paolo Tantoco.

“There is no truth to claims that the First Lady was held by any law enforcers while in Los Angeles or in any other place,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said.

Liza was in the US for the Manila International Film Festival from March 5-8 and led a donation turnover to the Girl Scouts of the Philippines at her office in Manila at the time of the arrest, according to the Palace.

Some Duterte supporters believe that his arrest was meant to cover up or divert attention from the First Lady’s supposed detention in LA.

Even though the Palace refuted claims that he was detained, Duterte supporters continued to flood the First Lady’s account after she posted a photo of her meeting with the Asian Cultural Council on March 22, insisting that the photo was edited.

Social media users claim the photo was edited, despite several posts from the March 11 arrest leading up to the March 22 post. In response, the Palace slammed the claims, labeling them as “fake news” and urging users to present evidence to prove whether it was edited or not.

“Those who usually criticize are those who are not privy to any meeting. What can we expect from those who know nothing? Madaling magpretend na as if they know everything,” the Palace said.

“Anyway, it is better to challenge these fake news vloggers/bloggers to show their own verified evidence that will counter that photo,” it said.

The post has since garnered over 283,000 reactions, the majority of which are laugh reactions.

Sibling war, showdown

It didn’t end after the arrest. The remainder of March was long enough for the Marcoses that even his own sister, Senator Imee, questioned the “due process” denied to Duterte.

Imee, who’s running for senator in this midterm election, then left the administration slate and went on as an independent candidate following the arrest.

Bongbong then heated up the mess between him and his sister after skipping introducing Imee in a Cavite sortie where she was also absent.

Later on, the older Marcos admitted she had had no communication with her brother even before she led the Senate inquiry on the arrest of Duterte.

“Matagal na kami hindi masyado nag-uusap. Maraming humaharang. Matagal na,” the senator said in a press conference.

“Nakikita ko lang ‘pag public events. At saka, mabilis lang yun, maraming tao,” she added.

Imee likewise said that she believed the Senate probe on Duterte’s arrest infuriated the president.

“Nagulat naman ako nung nagalit na nga, kasi nga siguro hindi nagkakasundo yung mga sagot, hindi tumutugma. Hindi ko na kasalanan yun. Malay ko ba kung anong isasagot nila.”

In a separate briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro refused to speculate on the rift between the Marcos siblings but thought there was one based on the statements of the older Marcos.

“As we can see from the statements of Senator Imee Marcos, it seems like there is. But on the part of the President, we cannot say that there’s a rift between the relationship … in the relationship of the two siblings. So, hintayin na lang po natin kung mayroon mang sasabihin ang Pangulo,” she said.