MANILA, Philippines — As part of his quest to forge a strong coalition for the 2025 midterm elections, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday led the signing of an alliance between his political party and the National Unity Party (NUP), the fourth political party to join the so-called "Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas (Alliance for a new Philippines)."

Marcos, chairman of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), witnessed the signing of the alliance between the two parties in Makati City on Saturday.

In his speech, the President said the political alliance between the PFP and NUP was "not a marriage of convenience" with the single-minded goal of dominating next year's polls.

"As the party alliances, especially on an individual basis, can be seen as merely marriages of convenience. And, once again, since we are bringing all of disparate forces together-- not so disparate, but separate forces together-- we will again be seen and commented upon, and said to be another marriage of convenience," Marcos said.

"So, that is why I think that we are making a very important change in the thinking, in the politics of the Philippines. That is basic not on political expediency, but on ideology. And what is the ideology that we are espousing? We speak now of unity, we speak now of Bagong Pilipinas, bringing the country, transforming the country to another place to a better place than we had found it," he added.

The NUP is the fourth major political party to sign an alliance with Marcos' PFP.

Led by party Chairman Ronaldo Puno, the NUP was founded in 2010 by former members of Lakas-Kampi CMD.

Since 2016, the NUP is also part of the PDP-Laban-led coalition in the House of Representatives, the so-called Coalition for Change supporting former president Rodrigo Duterte.