Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the dictator of the same name, achieved a surprising victory in the philippines presidential electionthe first with an absolute majority since 1986, when a revolution overthrew his father.
An unofficial tally by the electoral commission showed that Marcos, 64, known as “Bongbong,” passed the 27.5 million votes needed to secure a majority.
The recount returns the family to power frames36 years after her humiliating departure into exile after being overthrown in a popular uprising.
“I hope you don’t get tired of trusting us,” Marcos told supporters in remarks broadcast on Facebook, a platform that forms the core of his campaign strategy.
“We have a lot of things to do,” he said, adding that “an effort as big as this doesn’t involve just one person.”
Marcos jr. obtained 29.9 million votes, more than double the 12.5 million votes of Leni Robredo, the vice president, with 93.8% of the eligible ballots counted, according to the unofficial count of the Electoral Commission (COMELEC) .
Despite their fall from grace, the Marcos family returned from exile in the 1990s and have been a powerful force in politics ever since, retaining their influence with great wealth and connections.
Marcos Jr. has been governor, deputy and senator; his sister, Imee, is currently a senator, and his mother, Imelda, the influential power broker and widow of the late dictator, served four terms in the House of Representatives.
Strong man approach
Marcos has presented no real political platform, campaigning on a simple but ambiguous message of unity.
His presidency is expected to continue along the lines of that of the outgoing leader, Rodrigo Dutertewhose ruthless strongman approach proved popular and helped him quickly consolidate power.
One of the main advantages for Marcos was that he got Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpiobe his running mate, harnessing her father’s support and helping him make inroads into new electoral territory.
The unofficial tally showed Duterte-Carpio winning the vice presidency by a huge margin.
Marcos was criticized for skipping presidential debates and making few media appearances during the campaign, which allowed him to limit scrutiny and control his message through a network of social media influencers and bloggers who were granted wide access to their acts.
The results demonstrate the enormous success of a sophisticated social media operation by Marcos, who critics say has sought to discredit historical accounts of cronyism, looting and brutality during his father’s nearly authoritarian rule. half of which was under martial law.
The Marcos family denies siphoning off billions of dollars of state wealth during their time in power, and is considered by historians to be one of Asia’s most notorious kleptocracies.
Many of Marcos’s supporters, born after the 1986 uprising, are convinced that such accounts from the past are lies spread by his opponents.
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