Dictator's son picked to win Philippine presidency
Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Sara Duterte smile and chat of their love of burgers and mango shakes on the election trail in a carefree Youtube video before breaking into a short rap penned for their campaign for president and vice president of the Philippines by a popular singer.
Marcos Jr, the son of the late dictator who bilked the country out of billions and ruled for years with an iron fist, and Duterte, daughter of outgoing populist President Rodrigo Duterte, whose brutal anti-drug campaign has brought an investigation of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, like to keep things light.
Their carefully choreographed campaign whitewashes the past and is short on specifics about their vision for the future, but it appears to be resonating with the average Filipino, with the latest polls showing both with seemingly insurmountable leads in their races, which are held separately, in next week’s elections.
The campaign has made deft use of social media, primarily Tiktok and Youtube, to push the simple slogan of “unity” — “Uniteam” as they put it — and frame them as beyond politics and disagreements, said Adele Webb, a lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology and author of Chasing Freedom: The Philippines’ Long Journey to Democratic Ambivalence.
“His message really is very well crafted with this avoidance strategy,” Webb said. “Let’s stop talking about the past, let’s stop fighting about what those martial law years really looked like, and let’s look forward, let’s move forward.”
Ferdinand Marcos Sr was ousted in 1986 as millions of people took to the streets in the largely peaceful “People Power” uprising to force a return to democracy.
But Marcos Jr — who goes by his childhood nickname “Bongbong” or “BBM” in campaign posters — is embracing his father’s history.
The 64-year-old portrays his father’s decades in office as a time of prosperity and national pride, glossing over the corruption and years of martial law with a harsh crackdown on dissent that scarred generations of Filipinos.
“He’s just projecting a youthful version of his father, because he’s really banking on the Filipinos . . . nostalgic craving of Marcos rule,” said political scientist Andrea Chloe Wong.
With the median age in the Philippines about 25, Marcos has taken advantage of the fact that many voters have no personal memory of his father’s rule. He’s avoided confrontation by refusing head-to-head debates, hand-selecting the journalists for the sole press conference he has held since his campaign started, and has limited the number of interviews he has given.
In one of those — with CNN Philippines a week ago — Marcos defended his family’s opulent lifestyle, saying his parents always reminded him that “any comfort or privilege that we enjoy comes from the people, and that’s why we have to serve”.
The rehabilitation of the Marcos name started decades ago, with the family returning to the Philippines — and politics — only a few years after Marcos died in 1989 in exile in Hawaii.
Imelda Marcos — whose expansive collection of jewellery and 1220 pairs of shoes shocked the world after they
were discovered in the presidential palace that was stormed in the uprising — ran for president herself in 1992 and 1998, losing both times.
The 92-year-old, who still lives in Manila, had faced some 900 civil and criminal cases after her return — from embezzlement and corruption to tax evasion. Most were dismissed for lack of evidence, and the few convictions were overturned on appeal. A 2018 graft conviction remains on appeal.
Marcos Jr has held several political offices, including being elected to the House of Representatives in 1991 and the Senate in 2010, despite ongoing legal issues.
He has been dogged by a past conviction for failure to file his income tax papers and a government demand for a huge estate tax payment, which opponents unsuccessfully tried to use to disqualify his bid for the presidency.
The petitions against his candidacy remain on appeal and could reach the Supreme Court.
Marcos’ biggest challenger, Leni Robredo — the current vice president who defeated Marcos in his bid for that office in 2016 — has mobilised a groundswell of support against him, but she is still polling at less than half his number. AP