Home⇛PCS Review⇛vol. 17 no. 1 (2025)

From Reformism to Populism: Mapping Rhetorical Continuities in Philippine Presidencies from Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to Rodrigo Duterte

Christian Jaycee Samonte

Discipline: Politics

 

Abstract:

This article employs a narrative literature review to examine how Philippine presidents, from Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to Rodrigo Duterte, deploy discourse to shape national identity, legitimize authority, and construct regime narratives. Drawing on local and international scholarship, it maps recurring themes, metaphors, and performances of ethos across administrations, tracing the trajectory from reformism to populism. The analysis identifies three connecting mechanisms that persist across administrations: metaphoric continuity, enemy construction, and ethos work. Philippine presidential rhetoric mirrors global practices of crisis framing and personalization yet stands out for its cyclical appropriation of earlier scripts, the moral capital of People Power, Catholic symbolism, dynastic inheritances, and diasporainflected nationalism. The study contributes to Philippine rhetorical scholarship by offering an integrated discussion and an analytic vocabulary for presidential rhetoric, clarifying how narratives of reform and populism travel through institutions to mediate democratic fragility.



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