MANILA, Philippines — Inside a packed and stuffy Ynares Center in Antipolo, Rizal in early April, senatorial candidate Representative Camille Villar spoke of the lessons her parents, the senators Villar that preceded her, impressed upon the millennial politician.
It was Villar’s first appearance with the slate after weeks away from the bright red-and-blue Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas stage — an absence that triggered rumors that her father’s Nacionalista Party (NP) would be bolting the coalition in the aftermath of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
But there’s been another crisis brewing — Camille, unlike the Villars who came before her, has had dismal numbers in preference surveys for the 2025 senatorial race. After all, her mother, Cynthia Villar, emerged number one senator in the 2019 midterms.
Her brother, incumbent Senator Mark Villar, constantly polled at around 50% preference, based on Pulse Asia’s polling, until he went down to 35.9% in the last survey before election day.
The youngest Villar in politics, based on Pulse Asia’s preference surveys, has yet to hit the 40% mark — she started with 38.4% preference in January 2025, went down to 36.6% in February 2025, then went further down to 29% in March 2025.
Internal preference surveys, including those Malacañang itself has access too, show Representative Villar has not broken 30% as of March 2025, and now ranks between 10th to 13th — a tight place that’s not ideal for a Villar.
So, it was probably to nobody’s surprise that in mid-April, former Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque posted what seemed to be behind-the-scenes photos of Representative Villar; her father, former Senate president Manny Villar; and Vice President Sara Duterte in an endorsement shoot.
“Politics is addition after all!” said Roque, who earlier fled the country and has been under pressure by the Marcos-allied House to show up before a probe.
Team Marcos or Team Duterte?
Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco, campaign manager of the Alyansa, seemingly dismissed talk about Villar’s photoshoot and the apparent endorsement by Vice President Duterte.
“Our candidates continue to receive overwhelming support both at the national and local level, and even from grassroots organizations. This is something that we welcome and we are proud of because politics is about addition, not division. It is about building coalitions. And in any election, every bit of support counts,” he said in a statement released Monday, April 14.
“Ang bawat pag-endorso na makukuha ng bawat kandidato ng Alyansa ay patunay na pagtangap at pagyakap sa Bagong Pilipinas na isinusulong ng ating Pangulo. And that is what matters most,” Tiangco added.
(Each endorsement that every candidate gets is proof of the acceptance and support of the Bagong Pilipinas that our President is pushing forward.)
Asked if his statement applied to Representative Villar, and if the coalition paid no mind to a Duterte endorsement, Tiangco responded by saying that the “statement applies to all.”
Tiangco did not answer when asked if Villar had sought permission — or at least gave a heads up — on the endorsement by Vice President Duterte.
Villar’s office, responding to an inquiry from Rappler, said they did not have information on the context and details of the shoot with Duterte.
The politics of addition
In his statement, Tiangco echoed Marcos’ stump speech to endorse what used to be a complete 12-person Alyansa slate.
“Ang mga kandidato na Alyansa ay personal na pinili ni Pangulong Marcos dahil sa kanilang mahusay na kakayahan at matatag na karanasan. The Alyansa candidates are part of the administration slate because they are committed to the vision we all share: Bagong Pilipinas,” he said.
(The candidates of Alyansa were selected by President Marcos himself because of their abilities and solid track record.)
What Tiangco’s statement does not emphasize is the trappings that incentivize Senate candidates — including, and especially those with good numbers to show in the first place — to join an administration coalition or party.
In the Philippines, electoral “political machinery” can often mean the largeness of a campaign kitty, a network of politicians and operators down to the barangay and purok (zone) levels, and the ability not only to court voters but make sure they show up on election day. It’s more than a strong argument for being on the side of the administration.
But things are upended when some of the incumbents are now the sworn enemies of their allies from the election before — as in the case of the 2025 polls, which has turned explicitly into a battle between the Marcos and Duterte clans.
The Villars, among the most powerful clans both in politics and business, have deep ties with the Dutertes.
Manny Villar, who once dreamed of the presidency, is a close ally of former president Duterte. In 2016, the NP pledged to support Duterte’s run under the PDP-Laban. Son Mark, before he was elected to the Senate in 2022, was Duterte’s public works secretary — never mind that the Villars own real estate company Vista Land.
Marcelino Mendoza, an incorporator, board member, and stockholder of Vista Land & Lifescapes Incorporated, donated P14.5 million to Duterte’s 2016 campaign.
Manny and wife Senator Cynthia, were frequent guests to Malacañang under the Duterte presidency. The Villar patriarch even joined a Duterte trip to Thailand.
Of course, the NP was part of the vaunted Uniteam Coalition that helped make Marcos and Vice President Duterte’s 2022 win a walk in the park.
Marcos ties, too
During the dictatorship of the President’s namesake and father, the Jose Laurel-led NP was part of the core opposition coalition.
But decades later, the younger Marcos himself would be part of the NP, now led by Manny Villar. Marcos’ 2010 Senate win — the clan’s first Senate post since his namesake and father, the dictator, was ousted from power — was under the banner of the NP and Villar-led coalition.
In 2016, for his failed vice presidential bid, Marcos ran as an independent. Three NP members — Marcos, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Antonio Trillanes IV — were all seeking the second-highest post in the land then. Cayetano would end up as the older Duterte’s running mate. Trillanes would turn into the former Davao mayor’s fiercest and loudest critic.
So, it was not surprising when Marcos eventually left the NP in 2021 to lead the little-known Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, which would eventually be his vehicle for the 2022 presidential elections.
It was under the Marcos-Duterte coalition that Mark Villar nabbed a seat in the Senate.
The NP’s formal endorsement of the Uniteam tandem would only come in end-March 2022, or at the halfway point of the national campaign.
The younger Senator Villar was a constant in Marcos’ early trips abroad — most prominent during a late 2022 visit to Belgium, during which House Speaker Martin Romualdez said that Senator Mark Villar, chairperson of both the committee on banks, financial Institutions and currencies, as well as the committee on trade, commerce and entrepreneurship, would help steer the passage of the controversial Maharlika Fund in the upper chamber.
Why choose?
For campaign experts, Camille Villar’s personal struggle in the 2025 polls isn’t surprising. Early on, experts Rappler spoke to quickly pointed out the irony in her campaign line: “Dapat may bago.” (Roughly, we should elect someone new.)
Why so? Representative Villar is anything but new. It’s a name that’s well known in national Philippine politics — after all, the chamber she seeks to enter already have two Villars in it.
If Camille Villar seemingly wants the best of both worlds — in keeping Marcos’ support while seeking a Duterte endorsement — it’s because that’s what most candidates, including her slate mates in Alyansa, aspire for.
At the get go, candidates of the Alyansa had been careful not to make explicit support of or criticism toward both former president Duterte and Vice President Duterte, even as Marcos himself tried to draw a contrast between his administration and the previous Duterte administration.
The need to appease, or at least not alienate, the Dutertes and their base becomes more felt as Marcos’ numbers for both his approval and trust ratings took a nosedive in March 2025.
In contrast, Vice President Duterte has seen her approval and trust numbers increase. Her approval and trust numbers, especially in Mindanao, have remained high — she enjoyed 96% approval and 97% trust ratings, respectively.
Camille Villar’s numbers in the southernmost island of Mindanao went down between February and March 2025, based on a survey commissioned for Malacañang. When you’re right on the edge of the “winning circle” of 12, every vote and every percentage point in every region counts.
It’s crunch time for the youngest Villar. Ahead of the Duterte shoot, Representative Camille released a new ad that tried to channel the nostalgia — and maybe even the popularity — of her father, Manny.
Will it be enough to secure yet another Villar a seat in the Senate? — Rappler.com