There are political alliances that look practical, even brilliant, at first glance. Then there are those that feel almost mythical—too powerful, too convenient, too good to fail.
The UniTeam, forged by Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte for the 2022 Philippine elections, belonged to the latter. It promised unity, inevitability, and victory. And it took the crown—spectacularly.
Former Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban bannered his Inquirer column then "The Bongbong-Sara Juggernaut." In the same way, I referred to the formidability of the duo as Goliath in my ATABAY article “Leni vs Marcos-Duterte: A Modern David and Goliath Fight.”
But history, literature, and faith warn us about deals that appear irresistible. In the old legend of Faust, a man gains power and fulfillment by striking a bargain that ultimately costs him everything that matters.
Looking back, it is hard not to see UniTeam through that same lens: A Faustian bargain—one that flourished quickly, reigned predominantly, and is now demanding its price.
The Allure of the Shortcut
UniTeam was a political marriage for convenience, uniting two powerful dynasties: the Marcoses’ Solid North and the Duterte’s Solid South. Each brought loyal machinery, myth-making, and a deeply entrenched base. Alone, either camp faced vulnerabilities—legal, historical, moral. Together, they appeared unstoppable.
This was the allure of the bargain: a shortcut to power that bypassed hard questions about integrity. The combined force made opposition feel futile. Victory was not just likely; it felt preordained.
In Faustian terms, this is how the pact always begins—not with evil intentions, but with a refusal to wait for legitimacy to be earned rather than seized.
The Price Deferred
Legal and moral objections were not absent. Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warned plainly.
Others raised alarms about electoral integrity, even issuing position papers asserting that the May 9, 2022 elections were rigged. One voice went as far as to say that Smartmatic, not the Filipino people, elected Marcos, allegedly in conspiracy with Comelec—thereby stripping the presidency of legal and moral legitimacy.
These voices did not prevail. They never do at the height of a Faustian bargain. Power, once amassed, has gravity. Institutions bend. Courts decide. The machinery rolls forward.
And here, we must say the uncomfortable truth: the Filipino electorate played a decisive role. Through a landslide vote, millions effectively co-signed the bargain—like a modern-day blood compact—granting democratic cover to a morally fraught alliance. With victory secured, the deal flourished.
The Long Shadow of Compromise
Faustian bargains do not collapse immediately. They work—until they don’t.
Three years on, the consequences have come into sharper focus. Documented corruption scandals, particularly those tied to flood control projects, have exposed the moral compromises that once lay hidden beneath campaign slogans and unity rhetoric.
The filing of twin impeachment cases against both the President and the Vice President—once the groom and bride of UniTeam—now marks what feels like a day of reckoning.
This is the cruel irony of such bargains: the very power that shields leaders early on magnifies their fall later. What is lost is not merely office or influence, but something harder to recover—a good name, moral authority, and an honorable legacy.
A Mirror Held to the Nation—Lessons Learned
Today, the impeachment cases confronting Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte are not merely proceedings against two elected officials. They are civic events—tests of how democracy reckons with the consequences of its own choices.
Thomas Jefferson’s line, “The government you elect is the government you deserve,” is often dismissed as cynical. Read plainly, it is instructional. In a democracy, responsibility does not end at the ballot box. When citizens reward shortcuts, excuse ethical compromise, or trade truth for political convenience, they help normalize the very conditions that make abuse of power possible.
The rise and fall of the UniTeam reveals recurring weaknesses in our civic culture: impatience with scrutiny, aversion to hard questions, and a tendency to mistake familiarity and force for competence and legitimacy. This is not a moral indictment of the electorate, but a civic diagnosis. Democracies do not fail only because leaders betray trust; they weaken when citizens stop demanding it.
If there is a lesson to be learned, it is this: accountability is not solely the work of courts, impeachment panels, or institutions. It is a continuing obligation of citizenship. A democracy survives not because leaders are flawless, but because the people insist—consistently and collectively—on standards that power cannot negotiate away.
The Hope Beyond the Bargain
And yet, even here, the story need not end in despair. Jesus reminds us.
But truth is not automatic, nor is freedom effortless. Truth demands courage— the courage to remember honestly, to judge fairly, and to resist the next irresistible bargain that promises salvation without repentance.
Faustian bargains always ask the same question: “What are you willing to give up to win?” History asks a far harder one afterward: “Was it worth it?”
As a people, we are now living inside that question. Whether this moment becomes mere political spectacle or genuine national reckoning depends on what we choose to do next—especially as we approach the crucial elections of 2028. This is not just another electoral cycle; it is an opportunity to decide whether we will repeat old bargains or finally learn from their cost.
Here, faith offers not an escape from responsibility, but a reason to hope responsibly. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God speaks to a people emerging from exile and failure.
This promise was never about shortcuts or power without accountability. It was about restoration after reckoning and renewal grounded in truth.
Hope, then, is not found in forgetting the past, but in confronting it—honestly, humbly, and together. If we choose truth over myth, character over charisma, and responsibility over convenience, the Philippines can yet step away from bargains that cost the nation its soul.
The future is still open. The question is whether we will enter it wiser.
Content and editing put together in collaboration with ChatGPT
Head image courtesy of ChatGPT image creator; art design by Canva
Still photos courtesy of Freepik, bookstore.org, IMT, indigomusic, Istock, & Shutterstock
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