Filipinos began voting Monday in a national election pitting descendants of two major political dynasties against a progressive candidate who promises to break with the country’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr and his running mate Sara Duterte, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, have a commanding lead in opinion polls over their closest rival, Leni Robredo, the incumbent vice president, who is running alongside with Kiko Pangilinan, senator.
A Pulse Asia poll published last week showed Marcos with 56 percent popular support, more than double Robredo’s 23 percent. Duterte has an even bigger lead over Pangilinan under an electoral system that allows voters to vote for presidents and vice presidents from different parties.
More than 67 million of the country’s nearly 110 million people are registered to vote.
The elevation to a six-year term for Marcos, 64, would mark the political rehabilitation of a family that led one of Asia’s most notorious dictatorships. It would also improve the fortunes of Duterte, 43, who beat out all competitors, including Marcos, for the presidency before deciding to run alongside him.
Robredo, 57, narrowly defeated Marcos for the vice presidency in the election that brought Rodrigo Duterte to power in 2016 and was a vocal critic during the latter’s tenure. She has won enthusiastic grassroots support on a platform to restore confidence in government and lift the economy.
“We are not just replacing the top position; this is an informal referendum on Duterte’s politics and policies,” said Aries Arugay, a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman. “It’s clear that one campaign is looking to continue what Duterte started and another really wants to have a paradigm shift in the way politics is conducted.”
At a polling station in Quezon City, part of metro Manila, people lined up around the block to vote, some dressed in Marcos’ campaign red or Robredo’s pink.
“The country deserves better governance,” said businessman Winston Manabat, who voted for Robredo and believed she could win.
“We don’t believe any of the polls because at the end of the day, polls can be falsified,” he added. “The dynamics on the ground give a totally different indication.”
Kenneth Lim, a technician, said he was supporting Marcos because “it will bring about a change in our country, in the economy.” He said, “I think he’ll do like his daddy.”
Analysts said Marcos’s popularity was aided by a careful campaign to recast his father’s dictatorship as a golden age of prosperity, even as billions of dollars were looted from state funds and the Philippines suspended government payments. debt during his rule.
The Marcos family fled to Hawaii in 1986 after facing massive “People Power” protests, but returned five years later. Imelda Marcos, Ferdinand’s widow Marcos Jr and his sister Imee Marcos have since rebuilt their political base.
Victims of the Marcos regime have tried unsuccessfully to block Marcos’ candidacy by petitioning the country’s electoral commission on the basis of a previous prosecutor’s conviction.
A group of more than 1,400 Catholic priests calling themselves Clerics for the Moral Option has endorsed Robredo, deploring what they called “false, misleading and manipulative claims that seek to revise the history of our country.”
“This is not just about candidates, but about values, truth, freedom of expression, and people are being confused because of the wrong information,” said Father Jun Sescon, one of the priests backing Robredo. “The priests felt compelled to be the voice of truth.”
Analysts said they expected the next government, regardless of its leader, to continue pursuing pro-growth policies similar to those implemented under Duterte.
“They have been very quiet on any policy statement because they are so far ahead of the curve,” said Jon Morales, associate director of Vriens & Partners, a government affairs consultancy. “But most believe they will leave the wheels of the economy in the hands of competent people.”
But Morales added that he expected to see “specific sectors doled out almost like gifts,” which “will close off competition in some sectors by creating various subtle barriers.”
Additional reporting by Guill Ramos
Reference-www.ft.com