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“Ghosts of Elections Past: A Few Historical Notes on the 2025 Midterm Elections”
May 16 @ 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Join us in this forum on “Ghosts of Elections Past: A Few Historical Notes on the 2025 Midterm Elections” this May 16, 2026 from 1:30 – 5:00 PM at the Performing Arts Hall (PAH), UP Cebu.
➡️ Abstract
The political overdrive normal in electioneering in the Philippines shifted to hyperspace mode after the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte to face trial by the ICC in The Hague last March. Instead of attempting to keep pace with the light speed of the news cycle, this talk looks back, offering some historical perspective. Given Philippine midterms have often been judged in terms of national senate election results, the results of these 2025 national elections will be examined as to whether they foreshadow “opposition” strength in the subsequent presidential election.
Political splits between the country’s political number One and Two predate even the (procedurally quirky) separate election of the president and vice president back to the colonial era battle for supremacy between Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña, Sr. The Marcos-Duterte feud (which can be traced back to the 1967 midterms) may prove another occasion in which the underdog becomes a longer-term victor, as Sara Duterte’s future presidential hopes remain very much alive despite the hyperpresidentialist advantage of the ruling Marcos dynasty.
The talk concludes with some thoughts about Cebu’s seemingly curious political evolution from a historically “yellow” anti-Marcos bastion to (briefly) a pro-Marcos constituency back to an anti-Marcos (but Duterte-sympathetic) stronghold.
The keynote speaker is Prof. Dr. Mark Thompson, the Chair Professor in the Department of Public and International Affairs and former Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong – a globally renowned and respected scholar of political science and public administration.
He will be joined by Prof. Dr. Cleo Anne Calimbahin, an esteemed Professor of political science specializing in elections, corruption, and democracy studies at De La Salle University- Manila, noted for her contributions on understanding patronage politics and democracy, as well as the nature and direction of the political parties in the Philippines.
➡️ The forum is open to the public. Pre-register by filling out this link: https://bit.ly/electionspast-25
See you this May 16!
Source: University of the Philippines Cebu Facebook