(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) on Thursday formalized an alliance with the Nacionalista Party (NP), gathering forces behind a "grand coalition" for the 2025 elections.

Marcos led the formal signing ceremony of the alliance between his party and the NP led by former Senate president Manuel Villar Jr. at the Brittany Hotel in Taguig City.

In his speech, the President said the PFP seeks unity with influential political parties such as the NP, the oldest political party in the Philippines, to "better orchestrate our collective priorities and plans for the nation."

"And today, we have the opportunity to forge another partnership that will broaden the grand coalition working under the banner of Bagong Pilipinas. We declare the PFP, we declare officially its collaboration with the Nacionalista Party through the signing of our alliance," Marcos said.

The President said the shared goal of improving Filipinos' lives would only be realized if the political parties in the country stand united.

"With this, we form a strong united front that [would] help us fulfill our shared goal for the Filipino people. And I'm sure everyone will agree that our goal is to strengthen the foundation of our nation to better serve our people," he said.

Marcos also enjoined all members of the "largest political bloc" to continue working for the dream and aspiration of making the Philippines a better country.

"And to say that we will — we came into office and when we leave office, that we leave the Philippines a better country and we leave the Filipinos in a better condition than we found them, when we first came into office," Marcos said.

"That is the aspiration. That is the dream. And it can only be achieved through a unified effort by everyone, and there is nothing more than we can do but to continue to work for that dream," he added.

The PFP, formed in 2018, forming alliances with major national political parties is part of the "Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas" movement launched ahead of the 2025 midterm elections.

The NP is the fourth national party that the PFP has allied with. The other parties are the Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats, the Nationalist People's Coalition, and the Nationalist Unity Party.

In the same speech, Marcos also looked back on his time as a member of NP, admitting that he would never have been president if it was not for the party's help.

Because of this, he called on the members of both parties to support bets in the upcoming elections who are willing to set aside partisan and personal differences in politics.

"[This is to ensure that the candidates] that will win next year are the leaders that understand that we must put our partisan or personal differences aside," Marcos said.

"What's most important is we are in agreement about what is the best for the people," he added. "We always put our fellow citizens first. We always put the Philippines first."

Marcos had been a member of Nacionalista since 2009, but left the party to join and head the PFP, which was closely associated with the Duterte administration, for his presidential run.

In fact, Marcos used the theme of unity when he ran for president in 2022 with Sara Duterte, daughter of then-president Rodrigo Duterte, as his vice president. Two years into his administration, however, the alliance began to unravel, with a feud developing between the two powerful families. The elder Duterte became vocal in his criticism of Marcos, calling him a drug addict. Marcos, in the meantime, had turned away from Duterte's pro-China policies, forging a stronger alliance with the United States and Western powers that Duterte had insulted in his time as president. Marcos also disowned Duterte's violent approach to dealing with illegal drugs, which resulted in his being the subject of an International Criminal Court investigation into the bloody drug war.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Nacionalista Party Chairman Manny Villar witness the signing of an alliance between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and the Nacionalista Party in Taguig City on Aug. 8, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H DILAN

The relationship between Marcos and Nacionalista began when the then Ilocos Norte representative ran for senator under Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) in the 2009 polls.

KBL, founded by Marcos' father, the late Ferdinand Sr., had forged an alliance with Nacionalista at the time, but this partnership was short-lived due to conflict within the Marcos-era party.

Nacionalista is the oldest political party in the country and has endured even Marcos' martial rule, which forced parties to coalesce with KBL.

Villar said the formal signing of the alliance was important to show Filipinos that their leaders are putting the country above anything else.

"We need to prove to the Filipino people that we are a nation capable of rising above our differences in order to build a bright future for the country," Villar said.

"This alliance with the President's political party, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, is the right first step towards that glorious direction," he added.