Manila: Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. When millions of demonstrators demanded the removal of his dictator father in the historic “manpower” revolution, a helicopter carried his family, 28, from the Presidential Palace of the Philippines.
Exactly 36 years later, Son is celebrating a resounding victory in the presidential election, an extraordinary return to a family once known for widespread human rights abuses and looting of an estimated $10 billion.
Marcos’ vote share in Monday’s election was twice that of his nearest rival, according to an unofficial election commission. Unlike the previous election held during his father’s martial law regime, the results – deemed largely valid – left some natives dismayed and confused by power activists. “We said in 1986, ‘never again’,” said Florencio Abad, who was among the millions of protesters who swarmed the streets of Manila at the time and later became a member of the cabinet. “How did he manage to come back?”
Marcos Family A decades-old campaign has been launched to revive its reputation. That, as well as the shortcomings of successive governments and a political masterstroke in aligning with the current president’s daughter Rodrigo Dutertehelped fuel his once unimaginable return to the presidency.
According to unofficial calculations, Sara Duterte-Carpio has an insurmountable lead in the election of Vice President, which is run separately.
“I wouldn’t have believed it even in 1986 or 1995,” said Joshua Kurlantzik, a Southeast Asia analyst at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.
Since the late 1990s, the Philippines has seen a succession of ineffective and corrupt governments, Kurlantzik said, which led to Duterte’s rule, which he described as “a quasi-autocratic”.
“The idea of strong governance is again very popular, including among young people”.
The Marcos family was given permission to return to the Philippines in 1991 by then-President Corazon Aquino, whose husband’s assassination in 1983 helped spark the People’s Power movement, which eventually ousted the elder Marcos after 20 years in power.
According to David Chaikin, a researcher at the University of Sydney, allowing the family to return from exile after the death of senior Marcos was an act of “extraordinary generosity”.
“It was the beginning of the Marcos family coming to power,” he said.
‘New generation of voters’
Both Marcos Jr. and his mother Imelda quickly went back into politics, rebuilding their political networks as they fought a series of cases to recover the family’s wealth. The family has legitimately maintained their fortune, despite the small salaries Marcos Sr. and Imelda Marcos earned during their presidency.
Imelda Marcos was elected to Congress four times. Meanwhile, his son spent 21 years in public office, serving in Congress and as governor of the family stronghold in the province of Ilocos Norte. He ran unsuccessfully for vice president in 2016.
Marcos’ high-profile political roles – Marcos’ sister, Imi, is a senator – was fueled by a well-tuned social media campaign to downplay human rights abuses and corruption during his father’s reign and call it the “Golden Age”. goes. Economic prosperity and infrastructure creation.
Economists have said that the Philippines recorded strong growth during the 1970s, but in the early 1980s its fortunes were dented by rising debt and global interest rates. According to World Bank data, the economy has shrunk by about 15% in the last two years of the Marcos administration.
With half the electorate aged 18 to 40, the social media campaign found a receptive audience.
“This is also a new generation of voters,” said Patricio Abinales, a Filipino and Asian studies professor at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. “No one lived in the eras after Marcos and Marcos.”
According to pollster Pulse Asia, voter support for Marcos doubled in November when Duterte-Carpio announced she would be his running mate.
Mass power defender Abad – who served in cabinet positions under President Corazon Aquino and his son, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino – said governments after 1986 were unable to reverse the injustices of the Marcos era.
“The changes that took place were not deep enough … specifically addressing the problem of inequality and excluding so many Filipinos from the distribution of wealth in the country,” he said.
“Justified despair.”
Along with Marcos Jr., other clan members have also won elections by unofficial count. His son Sandro is set to become a member of the House of Representatives, his sister Imi’s son Matthew Manotok Ilocos is likely to be reinstated as governor of Norte province, another as relative vice-governor, and another as mayor of the provincial capital Laoag City.
Exactly 36 years later, Son is celebrating a resounding victory in the presidential election, an extraordinary return to a family once known for widespread human rights abuses and looting of an estimated $10 billion.
Marcos’ vote share in Monday’s election was twice that of his nearest rival, according to an unofficial election commission. Unlike the previous election held during his father’s martial law regime, the results – deemed largely valid – left some natives dismayed and confused by power activists. “We said in 1986, ‘never again’,” said Florencio Abad, who was among the millions of protesters who swarmed the streets of Manila at the time and later became a member of the cabinet. “How did he manage to come back?”
Marcos Family A decades-old campaign has been launched to revive its reputation. That, as well as the shortcomings of successive governments and a political masterstroke in aligning with the current president’s daughter Rodrigo Dutertehelped fuel his once unimaginable return to the presidency.
According to unofficial calculations, Sara Duterte-Carpio has an insurmountable lead in the election of Vice President, which is run separately.
“I wouldn’t have believed it even in 1986 or 1995,” said Joshua Kurlantzik, a Southeast Asia analyst at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.
Since the late 1990s, the Philippines has seen a succession of ineffective and corrupt governments, Kurlantzik said, which led to Duterte’s rule, which he described as “a quasi-autocratic”.
“The idea of strong governance is again very popular, including among young people”.
The Marcos family was given permission to return to the Philippines in 1991 by then-President Corazon Aquino, whose husband’s assassination in 1983 helped spark the People’s Power movement, which eventually ousted the elder Marcos after 20 years in power.
According to David Chaikin, a researcher at the University of Sydney, allowing the family to return from exile after the death of senior Marcos was an act of “extraordinary generosity”.
“It was the beginning of the Marcos family coming to power,” he said.
‘New generation of voters’
Both Marcos Jr. and his mother Imelda quickly went back into politics, rebuilding their political networks as they fought a series of cases to recover the family’s wealth. The family has legitimately maintained their fortune, despite the small salaries Marcos Sr. and Imelda Marcos earned during their presidency.
Imelda Marcos was elected to Congress four times. Meanwhile, his son spent 21 years in public office, serving in Congress and as governor of the family stronghold in the province of Ilocos Norte. He ran unsuccessfully for vice president in 2016.
Marcos’ high-profile political roles – Marcos’ sister, Imi, is a senator – was fueled by a well-tuned social media campaign to downplay human rights abuses and corruption during his father’s reign and call it the “Golden Age”. goes. Economic prosperity and infrastructure creation.
Economists have said that the Philippines recorded strong growth during the 1970s, but in the early 1980s its fortunes were dented by rising debt and global interest rates. According to World Bank data, the economy has shrunk by about 15% in the last two years of the Marcos administration.
With half the electorate aged 18 to 40, the social media campaign found a receptive audience.
“This is also a new generation of voters,” said Patricio Abinales, a Filipino and Asian studies professor at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. “No one lived in the eras after Marcos and Marcos.”
According to pollster Pulse Asia, voter support for Marcos doubled in November when Duterte-Carpio announced she would be his running mate.
Mass power defender Abad – who served in cabinet positions under President Corazon Aquino and his son, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino – said governments after 1986 were unable to reverse the injustices of the Marcos era.
“The changes that took place were not deep enough … specifically addressing the problem of inequality and excluding so many Filipinos from the distribution of wealth in the country,” he said.
“Justified despair.”
Along with Marcos Jr., other clan members have also won elections by unofficial count. His son Sandro is set to become a member of the House of Representatives, his sister Imi’s son Matthew Manotok Ilocos is likely to be reinstated as governor of Norte province, another as relative vice-governor, and another as mayor of the provincial capital Laoag City.