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This Thursday, the Philippines greet the authoritarian and controversial Rodrigo Duterte Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who will be sworn in as president with great popular consent, but with the heavy legacy of his father’s dictatorship, Ferdinand Marcos, between 1970 and 1980.
“Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions”Bongbong, 64, said in a statement the day after sweeping the May 9 election with more than 58 percent of the vote, the best result in a presidential election since his father was in power 40 years ago. .
Two days after the historic victory, the president-elect went to visit his father’s grave in the Heroes Cemetery in Manila along with his mother, Imelda Marcos, who with her husband formed what was called the “marital dictatorship”.
Rodrigo Duterte (left) with his successor Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. Photo: AP
After the inauguration of Marcos Jr this Thursday, six years of regime managed with an iron fist, will leave behind atrocious explosions and deaths: the Duterte era.
Having just risen to power, on 30 June 2016 and for a single six-year term, Duterte launched his election promise to eradicate drugs in the country and encouraged the police to do so shoot to kill alleged drug addicts and traffickers.
The death tolls during this relentless anti-drug campaign vary widely between the official figures, estimated at over 6,200 victims, and those of NGOs, which put the deaths among 27,000 and 30,000 people.
The blood trail caused by the war on drugs, linked in many murders to armed vigilante groups protected from impunityearned Duterte for allegedly being investigated Crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
But the surname Duterte He will not go. His daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, who formed a tandem with Marcos Jr., had already taken the oath as vice president on June 19.
Philippine Vice President-elect Sara Duterte greets her Chinese counterpart Wang Qishan. Photo: EFE
the frames
The Marcos are estimated to have looted the country between $ 5,000 and $ 10,000 million, including property, works of art, jewelry and Imelda’s famous 3,000 pairs of shoesduring his years in power, between 1965 and 1986, when they were expelled from a revolution peaceful people.
After the declaration of martial law in 1972, approximately 3,257 people were extrajudicially murdered and about 35,000 tortured, according to data from Amnesty International.
Imelda in Ferdinando’s arms on her wedding day.
However, a disinformation campaign started years ago by the Marcos and intensified during the election campaign it whitened the family legacy in the countrywhere many now believe those years it was the golden age of the Philippines and that father of Marco legitimately amassed his fortune before being president.
Although he downplayed the abuses during the martial law era and denied the looting committed by his family, Bongbong Marcos it was against corruption and he also stressed that he will work for the poor to reduce inequalities in the country.
The shadow of Imelda
The victory of Marcos Jr., who doubled the votes of his main rival, Leni Robredo, is also due to the tenacity of his mother, What was he wearing? years preparing his son for the return to power, despite the lack of the charisma of his father, who died in 1989 in the United States.
The widow of the Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos. Photo: EFE file
In 2015, when he lost to Robredo in the presidential election, Bongbong assured that his mother wanted him to become president. from the age of three.
“Bongbong Marcos is very dependent on his mother. I think it is his mother’s wish that he runs for the presidency, but he is very incompetent“says Julius Trajano, a Filipino political analyst at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Only child of marriagehe grew up with his three sisters surrounded by luxury and was known for his carefree life.
The island of Calauit, where Imelda had dozens of exotic animals brought from Africa, became known as Safari Bongbong for the parties he organized there.
Unlike his father, who was a prestigious lawyer before he became president, his academic career has been a myriad of failures. “He’s lazy and carefree”the deceased dictator of his progeny came to write in his diary.
Marcos Jr. enrolled at Oxford University to study philosophy, politics and economics, but did not get to graduatenor did he later complete a master’s degree from the Wharton School of Business in the United States.
At the age of 25, under his father’s government, he became lieutenant governor of Ilocos Norte, the family’s political fiefdom in the north of the country, and then governor in 1983, three years before the revolution that ended the dictatorship.
return from exile
Bongbong returned to the Philippines in 1991 with his mother and sisters and resumed his political career. becoming a deputy at the congress (1992-1995 and 2007-2010), again governor in Ilocos Norte (1998-2007) and senator (2010-2016).
His mother, aged 92, nor did he hide when he returned from exile, running unsuccessfully for president in 1992 and subsequently holding deputy positions, while her sister Imee is a senator and before that she was also governor of Ilocos Norte (2010-2019) and deputy (1998-2007).
bong, convicted of tax evasion in 1995he is married to Louis Araneta, with whom he has three children and whom his relatives describe as smarter and more professional than her husband.
The marriage was a sign of rebellion, as Araneta is a relative of Corazón Aquino, Archenemy of the Marco for his leading role in the protests that brought down his regime.
However, Bongbong remains loyal to the family, which has succeeded preserve most of the plundered heritage despite at least 40 trials and some convictions related to looting and non-payment of taxes.
EFE
ap
Source: Clarin
