Uncertainty in the Philippines: who is “Bongbong” Marcos, son of a dictator who could replace Rodrigo Duterte

The Philippines is faced with a scenario of political uncertainty after the presidential elections on Monday. This is the landslide victory for Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcosson of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the return to power of a corrupt dynasty that brutally ruled for over 20 years.

To these antecedents, which brings alarm to sectors that suffered from the Marcoses between 1965 and 1986, we should also add don’t know that exist around the real policies of the future president, who have avoids judging the most important issues affecting the country.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., known as “Bongbong,” will almost certainly be the next president after getting nearly 31 million votes –over 50% of the support–, according to the provisional count released by the Electoral Commission (Comelec).

It may take several weeks before the final count is completed and the official results are published.

While waiting for the final result, Marcos Jr. thanked. the “thousands of workers, volunteers and political leaders” in existence believe in his “message of unity” in a video posted on his Facebook profile.

Success seems irreversible. “Bongbong” Marcos could have gotten more than double the support of candidate Leni Robredo, with more than 14 million combined the opposition to the dictator’s son in one candidacy that mobilized progressive voters with a massive and colorful march.

Robredo, 58, did not officially accept defeat and declared in a statement that “a movement has been born and it will not lose the final count” of votes.

Hundreds of demonstrators protested on Tuesday denouncing fraud at the gates of the Electoral Commission for Irregularities and incidents that occurred at voting centers on Monday, in which about 1,800 voting machines failed, according to Comelec data.

A dynasty crossed by corruption

If there are no surprises and everything is in line with logic, Marcos Jr. will sit as president on June 30 and move to Malacañán’s palace. His return will come 36 years after he fled from there by helicopter with his parents and sister after a popular revolution that caused the fall of the dictatorship.

The family’s flight to the United States discovered a large amount of expensive items (among other things, they have a collection of more than 3,000 shoes), the visible face of a corruption scheme taken between 5,000 and 10,000 million dollars of public fundsaccording to the forecast of the Presidential Commission for Good Governance (PCGC).

Some experts agree that Marcos ’priority goal, whose members have also won politically-related positions in congress and at the provincial level, is retain and recover the wealth they are forbidden to have accumulated during the “marital dictatorship” of Ferdinand and Imelda.

“Bongbong”, who was convicted of tax evasion in 1995, has always remained loyal to his family and defended his innocence, despite the fact that there was at least 40 court cases investigating his fate. Imelda herself was sentenced to 42 years in prison for corruption in 2018, although she has not yet been jailed pending resolution on her appeal.

Marcos Jr., who has been low profile throughout the campaign and avoided interviews and questions that could compromise his speech, did not condemn the crimes that took place during his father’s dictatorship.

Fear of the victims of the Marcos family

The return of Marcos is forming Fear of victims of Martial Law imposed between 1972 and 1981 of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whom they observed as “scared” as his son “Bongbong”, was just one step away from confirming his electoral victory.

“I am terrified. The turbulent year is now coming, but we must continue the fight for truth and memory, ”Bonifacio Ilagan, 74, who was arrested and tortured during Martial Law, and whose sister is missing and allegedly killed by the police.

In the decade of this terrorist founded by Marcos, who ruled the country from 1965 until he was overthrown by a peaceful revolution in 1986, approximately 3,257 people were killed without justice and about 35,000 tortured, according to data from the organization Amnesty International.

Disinformation and historical revisionism

This electoral campaign will be remembered for accusation of historical revisionism poured by the Marcoses ’propaganda machinery, especially through Facebook and other social networks.

In the “story” presented by “Bongbong”, the kleptocratic, despotic and oppressive dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos in the Philippines. has become for many the legend of a compassionate couplepatriotic and modernizer of the country.

Filipino journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa told CNN that Marcos Jr.’s landslide victory. “shows not only to Filipinos but to the world, The Impact of Disinformation on a Democracy”.

Political and economic uncertainty

It is difficult to know what direction the dictator’s son will take in economic and foreign policy, although it is believed that in principle it will maintain rapprochement with China founded by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, at an important moment in the power struggle between Beijing and Washington for its influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Regarding economic measures, the only certainty is that it has been favorable to resume the infrastructure program Build, Build, Buildof his predecessor, the current President Rodrigo Duterte.

Markets greeted the success of “Bongbong.” The Manila Stock Exchange fell 3% after opening, while the Philippine peso lost 0.4% against the US dollar.

Source: EFE