Millions of Filipinos through their franchise exercised on Monday, May 9, ushered in a new era of political dispensation by voting in Ferdinand Marcos Jr as President of the Republic of the Philippines in a record-breaking election that would fast-track and further consolidate the return of the Marcos clan back into the Malacanang Palace after a 36-year departure.
In the run-up to the 2022 Filipino election, Marcos Jr, presidential flag-bearer of the right-wing Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), stood the best chance of emerging, and with the headstart, he ultimately clinched a stunning victory by an unprecedented landslide.
A sexagenarian, aged 64, Marcos Jr garnered more than 31 million eligible ballots counted in an unofficial tally, ranking high above nine other contenders including 57-year-old Leni Robredo, his closest rival, and world-renowned boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao, both of whom estimably polled over 14 and 3 million of the votes respectively.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son, and namesake of the former Philippine state leader – Ferdinand Marcos Sr is all set to grasp the nettle and oversee the affairs of over 110 million Filipinos for a single six-year term at the Malacanang Palace taking up the leadership mantle from the 77-year old incumbent and outgoing populist president, Rodrigo Duterte.
Profile
Born in September 1957, Marcos Jr popularly referred to as Bongbong Marcos, started his career in Politics as a vicenarian, aged 23, a year before and all through the sit-tight presidential third term of his late father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr, who passed on in 1989.
The Marcos family dictated what went in and out of the Philippines for roughly two decades before they were forced to flee the Malacanang Palace to Hawaii, following a popular revolt against the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr in February 1986.
Preceding the inglorious flight, Bongbong Marcos, 23, was elected and served as vice governor in his home province of Ilocos Norte from 1980 to 1983, and in a double-quick progression, he became governor of the province from 1983 to the period of the uprising three years later.
Consequently, upon the return of the ‘infamous’ political dynasty from exile in 1991, Marcos Jr became a congressman and would go on to win the gubernatorial seat of Ilocos Norte – the stronghold province of the Marcoses, for a second time serving within that capacity from 1998 to 2007 and in addition to his political pedigree, he secured a reelection bid to Congress as representative of the Second District of Ilocos Norte.
A one-time senator of the Philippines for a 6-year period, Marcos Jr ran for the vice presidency as an independent candidate in the 2016 Filipino election and narrowly lost to Leni Robredo of the Liberal party who ended up runner-up in the just concluded presidential election.
He officially launched his campaign for the presidency in October 2021 and joined forces with 43-year-old Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of the outgoing president, Rodrigo Duterte. With Duterte-Carpio as his running mate for the position of the vice presidency, the political alliance proved strategic and was indispensably a crucial factor in his record-breaking victory.
“I wanted to issue a short statement and it’s essentially a statement of gratitude to all those who have been with us in this long and sometimes very difficult journey for the last six months. I want to thank you for all you have done for us,” said the president-elect.
Marcos Jr ran a campaign theme of “unity” and pledged to restore the “golden age” of his father’s presidency if elected. “It is my desire to bring back the unifying leadership that will bring our country together,” he emphasized during the build-up to the election.
Flashback
A walk down memory lane has it that the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr, for a larger part of his 20-year presidency between 1965 and 1986 adopted a strong-handed style of governance.
Marking the period of his infamous rule from 1972 when he imposed martial law across the archipelagic country to 1986, the year he was forced to flee Manila included inter alia: human rights violations, a crackdown on critics, corruption, and life of extravagance.
Both the late Marcos and his wife Imelda Marcos – former first lady and currently a powerful force in Filipino politics, believed to have possessed over 3,000 pairs of shoes, hold the Guinness World Record for the largest ever theft from a government.
Today, the Marcoses, despite having a dark past, still command a considerable influence in the politics of the Philippines ever since their return from exile in 1991, and with the election of Bongbong Marcos as President, the family is all set to get back to the highest plane of government.
Out In 1986 Back In 2022: What Will A Second Chance Look Like?
Many critics are skeptical of the resurgence of the ‘old guard’ to the corridor of power with the belief that Marcos Jr will pile up the agony and pick up exactly from where his father left off in 1986. In other quarters, the optimism is high with many others pinning all hopes on him to change the narratives and set the country on the right path to greatness.
Undoubtedly, the president-elect has a monumental task ahead. It’s all up to Marcos Jr as to what sort of president he’ll make for the next six years in the face of a sheer number of issues rocking the Southeast Asian country on the home front and a fierce great power rivalry between Washington and Beijing in the Indo-Pacific region that has a whole lot in connection to Manila.
Come June 30, Ferdinand Marcos Jr will make a return to the Malacanang Palace, this time around not as governor of Ilocos Norte but as the 17th President of the Republic of the Philippines.