The first, unofficial results after polling stations closed last night showed a big lead for Ferdinand Marcos (64), known as ‘Bongbong’.
Bongbong supporters were early to claim victory. At Marcos’ campaign team headquarters, they waved flags and hooted “Long live Marcos! Long live Duterte!”
Successor
Some 65.7 million registered voters are electing a successor to President Rodrigo Duterte, the populist leader known internationally for his bloody war on drugs and crackdown on activists and the media. His daughter Sara is Bongbong’s running mate for the vice presidency.
Despite Duterte’s human rights violations and the coronavirus crisis that has exacerbated poverty in the Philippines, he remains hugely popular at home. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered an investigation into its ‘war on drugs’ that killed thousands of Filipinos.
Former Senator Bongbong Marcos will face current Vice President Leni Robredo and eight other candidates, including former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, the mayor of Manila and former actor Isko Moreno.
Unit
Bongbong’s campaign message is unity, and in recent interviews he has praised his late father for his “genius” and leadership. He has promised more jobs, lower prices and more investment in agriculture and infrastructure.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during the election campaign.
REUTERS
The rise of Bongbong follows a years-long campaign to revive the name and image of the Marcos family. Under his father’s regime, tens of thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured or killed. The Marcos family ransacked the state treasury and led a life of extreme luxury, symbolized by his mother Imelda’s vast shoe collection.
A governance committee is charged with recovering the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and their associates. The family has stolen an estimated 10 billion US dollars from the Filipino people. But the violent Marcos era is portrayed on social media as a period of economic growth and infrastructure projects. Leni Robredo, Bongbong’s main rival, is portrayed as a communist who has achieved nothing.
promises
Some observers say Marcos appeals to junior Filipinos tired of promises of progress and economic reform from successive governments, many of whom feel they have done little for the common man on the street.
The elections also have consequences beyond national borders. China and the US are measuring their strength in the South China Sea, where there are territorial disputes between almost all the surrounding coastal states. The Philippines is likely to come under increasing economic and geopolitical pressures, especially as their territorial claims in the South China Sea overlap with those of Beijing.