Marcos Júnior, the dictator’s son who regained power in the Philippines | International

Ferdinand bongbong he is not noted for his eloquence or charisma. Nor for being a technocrat graduated from a prestigious university. In fact, he never graduated. But in the Philippines, a nation where political life is dominated by family clans, he boasts one of the most prominent — and controversial — surnames, Marcos.

The man who was elected as Philippine president with an overwhelming majority on Monday is the son of Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator whose kleptocratic rule plunged the country into a deep economic crisis. After decades in which a sweetened discourse of the dictatorial past has been spread, in which one of the darkest periods of Southeast Asia has been whitewashed as an era of prosperity, Marcos Júnior and his entourage have seen their efforts to the. They will once again be tenants of the Malacañán Palace, the same one from which they fled in 1986.

With more than 95% of the votes counted this Tuesday, Ferdinand bongbong Marcos is the clear winner of the Philippine elections, with more than 31 million votes, more than double the 14 million received by his closest rival, incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo. Despite not having a defined political program, his message focused exclusively on unity after the pandemic has caught on among the most nostalgic electorate and those who hope that the legacy of Rodrigo Duterte will continue, the outgoing president who, despite his bloody war against drugs enjoys a 67% popularity rating.

Although close to Duterte (Marcos will govern with his daughter, Sara-Duterte Carpio, as vice president), bongbong he has not projected that “strong man” image. Rodrigo himself, known for his more than controversial comments, has branded him on occasion as a “spoiled child” and a “bad leader”.

Marcos Jr., who has avoided participating in debates during the electoral race that could expose his weaknesses, has opted to campaign online. In his social networks he often appears with his wife, Louise Araneta, and their three children, in order to show himself as a familiar and close person, with the desire to redirect the Philippines towards a time of prosperity like the one he assures , cemented his father. The future leader has more than 1.2 million followers on TikTok; 5.3 million on Facebook; and two million subscribers on YouTube.

Family luxury and plunder

“My parents always reminded us that all the privileges we had were thanks to the people,” he said. bongbong in a recent interview. That the only boy in Ferdinand and Imelda’s marriage grew up surrounded by luxury with his three sisters is no secret.

When in 1986 the citizens entered the Palace of Malacañán after the escape of the Marcos, they found an enormous amount of luxury items, works of art and jewelry valued at millions of dollars. But that was only a small preview of the evidence of the true looting that the dictator undertook. It is estimated that he and his wife plundered up to 10,000 million dollars from public coffers between 1965 and 1986 – a figure that, taking inflation into account, would be equivalent to some 26,200 million current dollars, about 24,800 million euros -, of which which have recovered about 5,000 million dollars.

Marcos Jr. began his career in politics in 1980 in Ilocos Norte, the family feud, without being able to boast of a good academic curriculum: he enrolled at the University of Oxford to study Philosophy, Economics and Politics, but did not graduate; neither did he get a master’s degree in business in the United States. At that time, he prioritized the enjoyment of earthly pleasures that he could afford with his fortune and earned a reputation for organizing the best parties in Manila. At just 23 years old, he assumed the position of lieutenant governor of the province and, at 26, that of governor, until he was forced to take refuge in Hawaii, United States, after the overthrow of his father.

Thanks to their innumerable connections with the circles of power, since they returned from exile in 1991, the Marcoses began to whiten their image and regain influence. Between 1992 and 2010, bongbong He held various leadership positions at the regional level, until he made the leap to national politics as a senator. In 2016 he ran for the vice presidency, an election that he narrowly lost to Leni Robredo.

Multiple analysts believe that the one who has moved the strings in the shadows for all these years has been the widow of Ferdinand Marcos. The former first lady, who calls herself “the mother of all Filipinos,” has never hidden her fervent desire to once again influence the nation. After presenting herself to the Head of State on two occasions, without success, and holding several positions as a deputy after her, the matriarch would have concentrated all her energies on what bongbong take over the leadership of the Philippines. And that he helped her mother to protect her fortune, whose origin is still being investigated today, with more than 40 open cases. Own bongbong He was sentenced to prison for tax evasion in 1995, although he did not serve his sentence and has always defended his innocence.

Loyal to his family, in these last three decades as a public figure, Marcos Jr. has not apologized for the human rights violations and corruption that characterized his father’s regime, arguing that history should be left in the hands of professors. “What the opposition says about him is a misrepresentation. I met him. He was the president, but also my father and my friend. That demonization that has been done does not match the good person that he really was, ”he maintains. That narrative has endeared him to millions of voters disillusioned with the direction of the country and the inability of the authorities to address the basic needs of citizens.

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