The global COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the centralizing tendencies of national governments. It has become an excuse for authoritarian leaders to exercise greater control over the subnational governments and impose measures limiting mobility and even political and economic activities. The Philippines under Duterte is a case in point. Duterte's presidency illustrates the failure of the three-decadeold decentralization framework in the country. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the institutional flaws of decentralization in the Philippines and the local authority breakdown in favour of the president's domineering exercise of power. The pandemic has also played a crucial role in the 2022 Philippine national and local elections. After Duterte, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. guaranteed less restrictive management of the pandemic and slowly lifted previously imposed policies one after another. However, challenges persist under the new administration: while a new health secretary has been appointed, tourism and economy remain favoured over public health, and there is no explicit support for local governments in managing the pandemic and improving the health sector. This chapter interrogates the dynamics of local governance during the pandemic under Duterte and the first year of Marcos Jr. It argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed national-local relations, but this is also due to the dominant leadership legacy of Duterte.