The Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate technically capped off its 90-day campaign with a miting de avance or final grand rally in Mandaluyong City on Friday, May 10.

In those 90 days. The originally 12-member Alyansa took two bold strategic choices: first, a heavy reliance on President Marcos' collective and individual endorsements of the ticket; and second, holding the bare minimum of rallies in Mindanao.

Comprising the Alyansa slate are former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III; former Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Benhur Abalos; former Senators Panfilo Lacson, Manny Pacquiao; Senators Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Francis Tolentino; Makati City Mayor Abby Binay; House Deputy Speaker Las Piñas City lone district Rep. Camille Villar; and House Deputy Majority Leader ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo. 

The supposed 12th candidate, presidential sister Senator Imee Marcos, walked away mid-campaign after just a month of joining sorties. More on that later. 

First, the heavy reliance on Marcos as the top "salesman" of Alyansa. To his credit, the Chief Executive committed to campaign alongside his handpicked slate, and delivered with his presence.

For 16 grand rallies all over the country, Marcos sold the administration line-up as the best choice for voters in terms of competence and experience. He also leaned heavily on the Team Philippines vs. Team China rhetoric, which gave Alyansa an identity and point of comparison against the opposition ticket.

So effective was Marcos' cheerleading that Andrew E. could have skipped the sorties and his absence would not have been felt. This was not a bad strategy at all.

But then again, the administration has its critics, particularly those who swear by the Duterte family's every word and action. As popular as Marcos is, so too is his direct predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

In short, Alyansa has painted itself as PBBM's team through and through--take it or leave it. At any rate, Marcos' efforts didn't go unappreciated by the candidates.

"I’ve never experienced, I’ve never seen or experienced ‘yong suporta na ginawa o ginagawa ni Pangulong Marcos sa slate ng Alyansa. Imagine risking his own security ‘no. Dumadalo even open areas nandoon siya, vulnerable ‘yong kanyang physical security pero nandoon pa rin siya. And he stayed with us all the way from start to finish," Lacson said.

("I’ve never experienced—never seen or experienced—the kind of support that President Marcos has given or is giving to the Alyans slate. Imagine him risking his own security. He attends events even in open areas, where his physical security is vulnerable, yet he is still there. And he stayed with us all the way from start to finish.)

Perhaps the more obvious risk that the administration slate took was its dearth of campaign rallies in Mindanao--practically a third of the country’s geography. It is also the home turf of the Dutertes.

Alyansa's one and only big gathering in Mindanao took place in Carmen, Davao del Norte on Feb. 15--fifth day of the campaign period. At that point, Alyansa intended to carry out 21 rallies before the 90-day period was over.

Less than a month later, on March 11, former president Duterte would get arrested by the International Police (Interpol) in Manila and then flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands for crimes against humanity.

While there were reportedly other big rallies planned in Mindanao, they ended up getting shelved for one reason or another, and Alyansa moved on. The slate also moved on from Senator Marcos, who refused to campaign with her brother ticket in protest of Duterte's arrest.

Alyansa bets have since downplayed the need for physical campaign down south. Citing pre-election surveys, Tulfo said: "Kung titignan mo marami-rami pa rin sa grupo though hindi lahat ng Alyansa ay pasok doon sa choices ng mga tao doon (If you look at it, there are still quite a few in the group who are being picked, though not all of the Alyansa are included in the people's choices there)."

Sotto argued that Alyansa's social media-fueled 2025 campaign was still able to reach significantly more voters compared to the "old school" way of campaigning for the elections. 

"Yong yong tinatawag na 'old school'. Ilan ba ang maiipon mo sa rally? Palagay mo ilan sa isang malaking rally? 5,000? Noong araw ganon ang style pero aasahan mo na lang na pag-uwi ng mga ‘yon magkwento. Pero araw-arawin mo yong 90 days, 90 days araw-arawin mo na 5,000, wala ka pa rin, ni-hindi ka makaka five-million e. So old school ‘yon e," he said.

(The so-called 'old school' approach. How many people can you gather at a rally? What do you think—how many in a big rally? 5,000? Back in the day, that was the style, but you'd just rely on them to go home and spread the word. But if you do that every day for 90 days—5,000 people daily—you still won’t reach five million. So that’s old school.)

"Itong nangyari, ang ginawa nag-adopt ito doon sa bagong sistema which is lahat ng rally covered. Not only ng mainstream media, but particularly the social media. At merong live streaming, merong playback, pwedeng mapanood sa Youtube. So ang reach ngayon mas malawak. So kahit 16 lang siya, mas malawak ang naging reach nya kaysa noong araw," Sotto said.

(What happened now is that the strategy adapted to the new system, where every rally is covered. Not just by mainstream media, but especially by social media. There’s live streaming, playback, and it can be watched on YouTube. So now, the reach is much wider. Even if it’s just 16, the reach is broader than before.)

Aheas of the polls on May 12, Alyansa campaign manager, Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco thanked the Filipino people, campaign volunteers, local leaders, and members of the media who supported and covered the coalition’s campaign from the start.

"We want to take a moment to thank everyone who made this journey possible...We believe we have built something strong and genuine. We are hopeful that on May 12, the Filipino people will elect a Senate that will help President Marcos deliver on his promises and move the country forward," Tiangco said.