UniTeam

UniTeam was an electoral alliance in the Philippines formed to support the candidacies of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte in the 2022 presidential and vice-presidential elections and their allies in the 2022 Philippine general election. The alliance was formalized on November 29, 2021, with Senator Imee Marcos coining the name UniTeam.

UniTeam, as an electoral alliance, was dissolved shortly after the landslide victories of both candidates in the 2022 national elections. The term "UniTeam" continued to be used to refer to the relationship between the president and vice president until relations deteriorated following Duterte's resignation from the Marcos cabinet in July 2024 and the antagonistic rhetoric of the Duterte family against Marcos in the subsequent months. The resulting feud between the Marcos and Duterte families has also been termed as "Kadiliman vs. Kasamaan" () by critics of the Marcos administration, taken from an accidental quote by lawyer Harry Roque.

Coalition members The alliance consists of four political parties: Party Abbreviation Ideology Chairperson President Hugpong ng PagbabagoAlliance for Change HNP RegionalismSara Duterte Lakas–Christian Muslim DemocratsPeople Power–Christian Muslim Democrats Lakas Islamic democracyConservatismFilipino nationalismFederalismParliamentarianism Bong Revilla Jr. Martin Romualdez Partido Federal ng PilipinasFederal Party of the Philippines PFP Federalism Bongbong Marcos Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. Pwersa ng Masang PilipinoForce of the Filipino Masses PMP Populism Joseph Estrada In addition, the alliance's senatorial slate features guest candidates from the Nacionalista Party, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), PDP–Laban, and People's Reform Party (PRP). Except for the NPC, all of the aforementioned parties are allied with Marcos and Duterte.

Presidential bid

Senatorial slate

Marcos and Duterte have endorsed the following candidates for the 2022 Philippine Senate election, thus who are part of their "senatorial slate": Candidate name and party Position Votes Ranking Elected NPC 13,104,710 PMP 15,108,625 KBL Lawyer 9,691,607 NPC 20,602,655 Independent 10,643,491 Loren LegardaNPC 24,264,969 PDP–Laban(withdrew) 3,591,899 PDP–Laban Actor 26,612,434 PRP 11,246,206 PRP 12,788,479 Nacionalista 19,475,592 Independent 18,734,336

Result by island group

Luzon CandidatePartyVotes%RankTop 12Loren LegardaNPC14,409,13146.60%1Robin PadillaPDP-Laban14,182,78545.87%2Win GatchalianNPC12,419,07640.17%5Mark VillarNacionalista10,937,11735.37%7Migz ZubiriIndependent9,751,77931.54%10Jinggoy EstradaPMP8,515,48827.54%12Herbert BautistaNPC7,947,38425.70%14Gilbert TeodoroPRP6,737,56621.79%17Gregorio HonasanIndependent6,452,63320.87%18Larry GadonKBL6,067,02819.62%19Harry RoquePRP5,852,43018.93%21Turnout30,917,665100.00%

Visayas CandidatePartyVotes%RankTop 12Loren LegardaNPC4,639,49140.20%2Robin PadillaPDP-Laban4,608,10239.92%3Migz ZubiriIndependent3,805,23332.97%5Win GatchalianNPC3,781,48432.76%6Mark VillarNacionalista3,688,63631.96%7Gilbert TeodoroPRP2,594,72622.48%12Jinggoy EstradaPMP2,587,70622.42%13Herbert BautistaNPC2,244,04319.44%15Harry RoquePRP2,044,28217.71%16Gregorio HonasanIndependent1,821,56215.78%18Larry GadonKBL1,441,62912.49%22Turnout11,542,445100.00%

Mindanao CandidatePartyVotes%RankTop 12Robin PadillaPDP-Laban7,753,05260.12%1Migz ZubiriIndependent5,059,71239.23%2Loren LegardaNPC4,889,04637.91%3Mark VillarNacionalista4,542,22635.22%4Win GatchalianNPC4,222,45532.74%7Jinggoy EstradaPMP3,853,66929.88%8Gilbert TeodoroPRP3,174,45124.61%11Harry RoquePRP3,044,96823.61%13Herbert BautistaNPC2,712,23521.03%15Gregorio HonasanIndependent2,160,48416.75%16Larry GadonKBL1,859,32014.42%19Turnout12,896,983100.00%

Aftermath It was clarified that the UniTeam was only made for the purpose of the 2022 election, and no formal meeting has been held among its members as an alliance since then.

UniTeam's Lakas-CMD formed the majority of the House of Representative's 19th Congress. This was the first time a vice president's party leads the lower house, although Marcos' Partido Federal ng Pilipinas is part of the coalition. Out of the twelve upcoming members of the 24-seat Senate, only Risa Hontiveros formed part of the opposition.

Vice President Sara Duterte was appointed as Marcos' first Secretary of Education after they both took office in mid-2022, although she preferred to be Secretary of Defense. Over the next two years, Duterte's relationship with Marcos' allies deteriorated, particularly with House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Marcos' wife and first lady Liza Araneta. She resigned in May 2023 from Lakas–CMD where she served as chairperson. Lakas is part of the ruling coalition.

In January 2024, President Marcos insisted that the UniTeam is still "vibrant", referring to his working relationship with his deputy.

Duterte tendered resignation from her position as education secretary in June 2024. When asked about her friendship with Marcos in September 2024, she said they were never friends and merely running mates in the 2022 elections. Marcos responded expressing he was "deceived" about their supposed friendship. In October 2024, she detailed her fallout with Marcos, who she says "does not know how to be president".

UniTeam

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