Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. collapsed while visiting his dictator father’s grave yesterday after winning the Philippines’ election “by a landslide”.
The ousted ruler’s eponymous son won more than 31 million votes in an unofficial count from Monday’s polls in what is expected to be the strongest mandate for a Philippine president in decades.
Ferdinand Sr, husband of Imelda Marcos, was deposed in a revolt in 1986 and the family exiled, ending a 21-year rule of the country.
Bongbong has staunchly defended his father’s legacy and refused to apologize for the massive human rights abuses and looting under his rule.
He visited his father’s grave at the National Heroes Cemetery on Tuesday, laying flowers and at one point appeared overcome with emotion.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. collapsed while visiting his dictator father’s grave yesterday after winning the Philippines’ election “by a landslide”.
He visited his father’s grave at the National Heroes Cemetery on Tuesday, laying flowers and at one point appeared overcome with emotion
The namesake son of the ousted ruler won more than 31 million votes in an unofficial count from Monday’s polls
Imelda Marcos, the late dictator’s 92-year-old wife, turned out to vote for Bongbong.
The former first lady, famed for her lavish lifestyle, including a collection of 3,000 pairs of shoes, donned a matching red outfit with a rosary and Chanel pin as she was lifted out of a white van to cast her ballot.
Marcos Jr.’s campaign was marked by a relentless online whitewashing of his family’s brutal and corrupt regime and a hug for current authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte, who continues to enjoy broad popular support.
Right activists, Catholic leaders and political analysts had all warned that Marcos Jr. could rule with an even heavier fist if he wins by a wide margin.
Marcos was able to capitalize on widespread anger at a series of post-dictatorship governments, which many Filipinos believe have not significantly improved their lives.
Bongbong has staunchly defended his father’s legacy, refusing to apologize for the massive human rights abuses and looting under his rule (pictured together in 1972).
Crucially, he has also secured the support of several of the country’s powerful political dynasties, who can be called upon to cast voting blocks through patronage networks.
His running mate Sara Duterte also appeared to have won by a landslide victory.
The separately elected president and vice president will take office on June 30 after the results are confirmed by Congress.
With a single six-year term, they are poised to lead a Southeast Asian nation in dire need of an economic recovery after two years of Covid-19 outbreaks and lockdowns.
They will also inherit great expectations of a way out of crushing poverty, yawning inequalities, the ending of Muslim and communist uprisings, and political divisions fueled only by their fathers’ tumultuous presidencies.
Glory Days: Imelda (right) poses with Ferdinand Sr (left) at a military event in November 1985
Imelda Marcos was lifted out of a white van to vote in the northern city of Batac
Marcos Jr.’s main rivals have conceded defeat, including former boxing star Manny Pacquiao. Marco’s closest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, a human rights lawyer who took office with promises of much-needed reform, has only acknowledged his massive lead.
“As a boxer and athlete, I know how to accept defeat,” Pacquiao said in a video message. “But I hope that even if I lost in this fight, my poor compatriots were also winners.”
The United States, a long-time treaty partner with the Philippines, was among the first foreign governments to comment after the election.
It expressed its willingness to work with the next Philippine President following an official proclamation, but stressed that the relationship should be based on respect for human rights and the rule of law.
“We look forward to renewing our special partnership and working with the next administration on important human rights issues and regional priorities,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Bongbong attended a £36,000-a-year public school in Sussex with Harry Enfield, then Oxford
Citing Washington’s long-standing alliance with Manila “which shares democratic values and interests,” he added that the US administration will continue to “promote respect for human rights and the rule of law that are essential to US relations with the Philippines and in others.” bilateral contexts are fundamental.’
When asked if the US had concerns about Marcos Jr.’s apparent victory, Price dodged the question, but said the election and subsequent vote count met international standards without major incidents.
Bongbong and Sarah Duterte, daughter of outgoing populist leader Rodrigo Duterte, fought on a platform of national unity without saying how they would heal wounds that have swollen since their fathers’ presidency.
The 64-year-old former provincial governor, congressman and senator has kept mum on important political, economic and foreign policy issues, including how he would counter calls for the prosecution of President Duterte, who oversaw a bloody anti-drug campaign sweeping the US alarmed the international community and triggered an investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Bongbong secured 31 million votes, more than double his nearest rival, Liberal candidate Leni Robredo
The US-based Human Rights Watch called on Marcos Jr. to take immediate action to improve human rights conditions in the country after taking office, including by helping the ICC to indict Duterte, releasing his long-jailed critic Sen. Leila de Lima and the order for military and police to stop targeting activists and right-wing defenders.
Left-wing groups and survivors of the Marcos dictatorship flatly rejected Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte, accusing them of glossing over their fathers’ legacy in campaigning and social media propaganda.
“Our generation has shown that even the most ruthless tyrant can be defeated through the collective action of the people,” said SELDA, a group of former political prisoners and human rights victims of the martial law era under the late dictator. “Now is the time to use that power again – the power to change the course of history and repudiate this disgraceful pair of traditional politicians.”
LIFE IN LUXURY: THE DICTATOR’S WIFE WITH 3,000 PAIRS OF SHOES
She was famous for putting together a valuable shoe collection that most women would kill for.
Imelda Marcos, wife of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is said to have owned more than 3,000 pairs before she and her husband were expelled from the Philippines.
The Marcoses fled the country at the height of the army-backed “People’s Power” revolt in 1986, leaving a staggering amount of personal belongings, clothing and artifacts at the palace, including the former First Lady’s shoes.
The massive footwear collection, which is said to number 3,000 pairs, including top brands from the US and Europe, stunned the world and became a symbol of excess in the Southeast Asian nation, where many still walked barefoot out of abject poverty.
After the 1986 revolt, Aquino had Imelda Marcos’s shoes displayed at the Presidential Palace as a symbol of the former First Lady’s lavish lifestyle. The shoes were then removed from public view and stored in the palace basement when Aquino resigned in 1992.
Imelda Marcos claimed many of the shoes were gifts from Filipino shoemakers in the suburban city of Marikina, the country’s shoemaking capital, because they endorsed their products.
Marikina officials loaned 800 pairs of their shoes to a shoe museum in 2001, which has become a tourist attraction. However, in 2009, massive flooding damaged dozens of pairs of Marcos’ shoes in Marikina.
About 765 couples survived the floods in Marikina, including famous brands such as Gucci, Charles Jourdan, Christian Dior, Ferragamo, Chanel and Prada.
In 2012, it was reported that the shoes still look remarkably new due to meticulous museum care, which includes displaying them in airtight and dust-free showcases in an air-conditioned gallery away from direct sunlight.
The shoe collection is said to have drawn 50 to 100 Filipino and foreign tourists a day, who were almost always in awe, museum director Jane Ballesteros said at the time.
Ms Marcos was charged but never convicted of stealing state billions to support a lavish lifestyle during Ferdinand’s 20-year rule.
Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in 1989. His possessions included paintings by masters such as Monet, Picasso and Van Gogh.