election in the Philippines
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. triumphs in presidential election – why this is not good news for many people
STORY: The 64-year-old son of ex-dictator Marcos has won the presidential election in the Philippines. After counting more than 97 percent of the votes, it shows that he was able to win more than twice as many as his main rival, opposition leader Robredo. He thanked his supporters on social media, which Ferdinand Marcos Junior also used extensively during his election campaign. The chambers of parliament must announce the official result of the election. However, that is only expected in a few weeks. Human rights activists fear that the new head of state could govern even more autocratically than the previous President Duterte.
His father was a feared dictator under whom corruption and human rights violations were commonplace in the Philippines. After the presidential elections, one thing is certain: now his son Ferdinand Jr., known as “Bongbong”, is following in his footsteps.
The name Ferdinand Marcos is associated with corruption and human rights violations. But the family of the former Philippine dictator has constantly worked on its image in recent decades. And so Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can now follow in his notorious father’s footsteps: In the presidential elections on Monday, the 64-year-old won by a huge margin with around 56 percent.
It has been 36 years since the Marcos family fled a popular uprising into US exile. Since then, she has made an amazing political comeback. In 2016, Marcos Jr. narrowly lost the vice presidential race to Leni Robredo. Now he achieved a landslide victory with more than twice as many votes as Robredo, who ran as his main rival in the presidential election.
Marcos Jr. has promised to unite the Philippines, create jobs and do something about rising prices in the country. Unity is “the first step in getting out of this crisis,” said Marcos Jr., who goes by the nickname Bongbong in the Philippines, at the launch of his campaign in February.
Little Bongbong grew up in the Presidential Palace in Manila and originally wanted to be an astronaut. When his father declared martial law in 1972, Marcos Jr. was in a British boarding school. Marcos Jr. became governor of his home province of Ilocos Norte while his father was still under dictatorship. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. The family returned to the Philippines, Marcos Jr. became a member of the Philippine House of Representatives and Senate, among other things.
A controversial comeback
The connection to his father has made the 64-year-old one of the most controversial politicians in the country. But Marco Jr.’s election campaign benefited from a flood of false and misleading messages online, aimed at young Filipinos who have no memories of the corruption, killings and abuses of the Marcos years.
The Marcos clan also owes its comeback to the disillusionment with the continuing gap between rich and poor and allegations of bribery, which accompanied all governments after the end of the dictatorship. Marcos Jr. has also benefited from an alliance with outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte, who was running for vice president. In addition, the dictator’s son is supported by powerful families who have enormous influence in the feudal and corrupt Filipino politics.
Opponents have tried in vain to have Marcos Jr. banned from the presidential election because of his criminal record for tax evasion. They also accuse him of doctoring his academic credentials.
Although Duterte’s party supported Marcos Jr., the president recently called him a “weak” leader. This led to speculation that Duterte might want to coerce concessions from Marcos Jr. after the change of power. The incumbent president faces international investigations into his deadly “war on drugs.”
Marcos Jr. himself has avoided debates with his competitors during his campaign to avoid questions about his family’s past. In the few interviews he gave, he seemed awkward and tense. He describes his father as a “political genius”.
For human rights activists and Marcos opponents, the result of the election is a nightmare. 72-year-old Judy Taguiwalo, who was twice arrested and tortured during the Marcos dictatorship, sees her country at a “crossroads”. She added militantly: “We have to keep standing and fighting.”