Should candidates be allowed to use local festivals as an avenue for campaigning? Baguio Flower Festival organizers don’t think so.
That’s why it came as a surprise to attendees of Baguio City’s Panagbenga festival when presidential sister and reelectionist senator Imee Marcos unexpectedly appeared at the floral parade on Sunday, February 23.
Donning a bright red ensemble, Marcos smiled, waved, and did the V-sign — a hand gesture that her father, dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, was known for — to the crowds as she rode atop a comparatively simple Ilocos Norte float decorated with sunflowers, red roses, and daisies that were shaped to have the words “Ilocos Norte I’m in!” inscribed.
The crowds cheered as Marcos’ float passed — she was, after all, the most high-profile personality in the event. Some tourists braved the 15°C weather and camped out from 10 pm on Saturday night to secure a good spot to get a glimpse of the floats and the occasional celebrity.
While the festival guidelines did not prohibit politicians from joining the parade, they had to abide by its strict “politics-free” policy.
According to festival rules, candidates and political figures are forbidden from using the festival’s events as campaign platforms. This includes “the display of campaign materials, distribution of political paraphernalia, and delivering speeches with political content.”
They are, however, allowed to participate in the float parade, but their floats and attire must not bear campaign materials or messages. They are also “discouraged from disembarking floats to engage directly with spectators, such as shaking hands or distributing items.”
At first, Marcos appeared to play by the rules, simply remaining on the float joined by Cristine Reyes, the actress who portrayed her in the controversial Darryl Yap film, Maid in Malacañang, actors Juliana Parizcova, Ella Cruz, and Julian Trono, and two members of the Hashtags dance group, McCoy De Leon and Kid Yambao.
However, once the Ilocos Norte float reached the crossroads of Session Road and Magsaysay Avenue, Marcos hopped off the vehicle, allowed herself to be interviewed by the press, and shook hands with the onlookers who lined the streets along the parade’s path.
This did not sit well with the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, including its co-chair Anthony de Leon. “This is a festival, not an opportunity for anyone, whether national or local, to use it as an opportunity to campaign. That’s why we feel strongly against what happened yesterday. We feel offended by it,” De Leon told Rappler on Monday, February 24.
It wasn’t just Marcos. Word went around that cardboard fans were being distributed along Session Road. They bore the face of senatorial aspirant Lito Lapid, with the words “re-elect” and “#35” — his number on the ballot. The Rappler team saw some of these fans lying around in two convenience stores along Session Road. Workers in the stores said they didn’t know the people who put them there.
“We’ve been coming out with our statements and our policies. They are very much aware of what our position is. It’s a question of respect and what they did yesterday was disrespectful. I have no other description. And I even suggest to voters not to vote for these people,” De Leon said, without directly mentioning either Marcos or Lapid.
He said they received multiple reports with photographs of the incident from residents and spectators. He emphasized that the Festival Foundation and its organizers have no capacity to police the offenders, saying they can only set the rules and regulations for the parade. But if violators persist, De Leon said the organizers will not allow them to join the parade.
“If these people are not able to follow basic rules and cannot respect the wishes of the community,” he added, “what more if they are in position?”
In a separate message to Rappler on Tuesday, De Leon said they were aware of Marcos’ presence at the parade. “They called our chief-of-staff, and they were informed of what the rules are. But notwithstanding the information given, they clearly didn’t follow it.”
Rappler has reached out to both Marcos’ and Lapid’s teams for comment but have yet to receive a reply as of writing. We will update this story once they reply.
Lapid and Marcos are included in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas administration coalition. Imee withdrew from the slate in 2024, saying she wanted to run as an independent candidate. Nonetheless, Alyansa campaign manager Toby Tiangco said days before their campaign kickoff in early February that the reelectionist senator would remain in their slate. – Rappler.com