presidential election
Marcos Jr. declares himself the winner of the elections in the Philippines
Dictator’s son Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared himself the winner of the elections in the Philippines. Photo: Uncredited/Bongbong Marcos Facebook/AP/dpa
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The return of the notorious Marcos dynasty has succeeded – also thanks to gigantic election promises. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has declared himself the winner of the presidential election.
In the Philippines, the dictator’s son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has declared himself the winner of the presidential election. After an unofficial count of 98 percent of the vote, the 64-year-old won a landslide victory in Monday’s election.
“He will be the 17th President of the Philippines,” announced his spokesman Victor Rodriquez in the capital, Manila. The official result can only be announced by the Senate and House of Representatives Congress. This is not expected for a few weeks.
Official result in a few weeks
However, most of the nine other contenders for the highest public office in the country of 110 million people have already admitted defeat. According to the unofficial calculations, Marcos Jr. received around 31 million votes. His toughest competitor, opposition leader Leni Robredo, did not even reach half. Marcos Jr. announced through his spokesman that he wanted to be “president of all Filipinos” – including those who did not vote for him.
The regime under Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989) and his eccentric wife Imelda (now 92 years old) had made a name for itself for many years with murder, kleptocracy and the disappearance of political opponents without a trace. The couple is also said to have diverted billions from the state coffers. In 1986, the family was expelled from the island nation and fled to Hawaii. After the dictator’s death in 1989, she returned to the Philippines in the early 1990s.
Never publicly distanced from the regime
On Wednesday, Marcos Jr. visited his father’s grave at the “Heroes’ Cemetery” in Manila, where Ferdinand Marcos was buried in 2016. “Bongbong” has never publicly distanced itself from the regime. During the election campaign, he glorified it as a time of prosperity. His spokesman Rodriguez quoted him as saying: “Don’t judge me by my ancestors, but by my actions.”