Ferdinand “Bonbong” Marcos, son of the deceased Philippine dictator of the same name, starts as the favorite candidate to take over from Rodrigo Duterte in the presidency of the Philippines, who this Tuesday kicked off the electoral campaign for the elections of the 9th of may.
Officially there are ten candidates to occupy the presidency of the archipelago for the next six years, but the polls at the moment only give real chances to Marcos and the current vice president, Leni Robredo.
From behind they try to convince the 67.5 million Filipino voters (1.8 million from abroad) Senator Panfilo Lacson; Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso (aka Isko Moreno); and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.
Almost 33 years after the death of Ferdinand Marcos in his exile in Hawaii, his 64-year-old son Bongbong is the top favourite, buoyed by his powerful propaganda machine, which on social media unashamedly vindicates his father’s legacy and ignores human rights abuses and the money stolen from public coffers.
Sara Duterte, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, vice-presidential candidate of the Philippines. Photo: AFP
According to Transparency International, Ferdinand Marcos (who governed between 1965 and 1986) illicitly appropriated some 10,000 million dollars, while an estimated 3,257 people were summarily executed70,000 imprisoned and 34,000 tortured since Martial Law was decreed in 1972.
Both issues have become taboo for the candidate, who is reluctant to participate in interviews and debates, refusing discussions “about the country’s history” when asked uncomfortable questions.
His conservative strategy is justified by his strength in the polls, with the support of 54 percent of those consulted by the firm Pulse Asia, while his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, remains at 20 percent.
Rodrigo Duterte will leave the presidency of the Philippines after the elections. Photo: AP
Criticism of Rodrigo Duterte
In a country where election campaigns become a festival of music and color, with a spirit closer to that of a sports competition or a variety show, Bongbong started his run to the Malacañang Palace with a mass bath in a stadium near Manila, where he received the support of prominent political personalities.
His support does not include the current president, Rodrigo Duterte, who has denigrated him in public, accusing him of being a weak leader and a cocaine addict, despite the fact that his electoral tandem is with his own daughter Sara Carpio Duterte, a vice-presidential candidate.
The one who presents herself as Marcos’s greatest antagonist, Leni Robredo (in 2016 she snatched the vice presidency from him by a handful of votes), began her campaign with a pink march in Manila.
A former human rights activist, Robredo is the only woman aspiring to the presidency and embodies a style opposed to the strength and authority that other candidates try to convey in search of Duterte’s legacy, who for now has shown no preference for any candidate.
Senator Manny Pacquiao preferred to start the campaign with an act in his fiefdom in General Santos, in the troubled south of the country, where his eight world boxing champion titles have given him an almost divine aura for many of his countrymen.
Trailing in the polls, he tried to relaunch his campaign last week when he pledged to push for the recovery of billions allegedly stolen from the state by the Marcoses, a promise made by previous presidents.
Further back in the polls, Francisco Domagoso (alias Isko Moreno) wants to take advantage of the momentum of the Manila mayor’s office to come back in the remaining three months, while the senator and former police chief Panfilo Lacson tries to catapult his candidacy with a powerful campaign advertising.
Complaint for tax evasion
Although the current numbers make Marcos the almost certain winner, the background of the last decade invites caution, since neither in 2010 nor in 2016 did the candidate who started the campaign win.
In a country where the ideological debate is almost nil and the way in which the public perceives the personality of the candidate prevails above all, any public slip can have catastrophic consequences.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is also running for president. Photo: AP
Another reason for Marcos not to trust himself is that the Philippine electoral commission is studying half a dozen complaints that have as their objective his disqualification from the presidential race for having been convicted in the past of tax evasion.
The electoral entity delayed the announcement of its decision, which has already forced the retirement of two commissioners, who later declared that Marcos should not be president, having been convicted in 1997 of that crime.
During the May 9 elections, there will also be votes to elect vice president, twelve senators, more than 300 congressmen and thousands of provincial and municipal positions.
Source: EFE
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