A year from now, it’s election time again

In the observance of World Press Freedom Day, Ambassador Laure Beaufils of the United Kingdom (UK) sponsored a panel discussion on “information environment in the context of elections” in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world.

In her brief remarks before the panel discussions, Ambassador Beaufils noted a lot of countries are currently holding, or have just conducted, elections like in Brazil and Russia, or soon will be having elections, like the particular situation in the Philippines in May 2025.

It is indeed forthcoming – exactly a year from now. Filipino voters will again go to the polling precincts on May 12, 2025 for the midterm elections. The results of the midterm elections supposedly reflect how the Filipino people judge the performance of the administration, if they will vote for candidates backed by the party in power.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) and Vice President Sara Duterte won under the UniTeam of their respective political parties in the May 2022 elections. Marcos ran and won as the presidential standard bearer of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), while his runningmate former Davao City Mayor won as the VP bet of the Lakas-Christian-Muslim Democrats (CMD). Last week, both the PFP and the Lakas-CMD formally renewed the alliance of the two parties.

The former UniTeam alliance was rechristened after the governance brand of the Marcos administration. In a declared bid to uplift the lives of the Filipino people, the new unified team-up is called “Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas.” Incidentally, the brand was actually a take-off from the “Kilusang Bagong Lipunan” political party of his late namesake father, former president Ferdinand Sr.

PBBM cited the PFP-Lakas-CMD alliance is a significant moment for Philippine politics and public service. “We mark today a significant moment not just for Philippine politics, but also for the field of public service, as members of both parties formalize and build an alliance that will propel our country towards the Bagong Pilipinas that we envision,” PBBM vowed.

“As we approach this political cycle, we will be filing already in October. The election is coming next year in May,’’ PBBM