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MANILA – Millions of Filipinos lined up under the scorching sun on Monday to vote for a new president, with the late dictator’s son Ferdinand Marcos Jr. looking ready to run the country from which his family once robbed billions.
The election is a test of the truth and memory of history for some 65 million registered voters in this archipelago, where the Marcos family has spent more than a decade rehabilitating its name through a sophisticated campaign of historical revisionism on social media.
The next president of the Philippines will succeed the hard-line populist Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has killed thousands of people and a country with an economy and health system devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. Presidents have only one six-year term and are elected separately from the vice president.
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Marcos and his candidate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, mayor of Davao and daughter of the incumbent president, enjoy a significant lead over their opponents, according to the latest polls. Other candidates for the top job include Vice President Maria Leonor “Lenny” Robredo, boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, former Manila actor and mayor Francisco Domagoso and former senator and police chief Panfilo Laxon.
Marcos’ presidency may not be as brutal as his father’s dictatorship or even Duterte’s term, but it is expected to complete the bleaching of the family’s reputation and protect him from responsibility. It is estimated that between $ 5 billion and $ 10 billion have been stolen from the state treasury during the family’s two-decade rule, and only a small portion has been recovered. The family fled to Hawaii, where they live in exile after the People Power Revolution of 1986. They returned to the Philippines in the 1990s.
The family continues to face several controversies, including a corruption conviction for Marcos’ mother, former First Lady Imelda, and assets that owe billions in taxes. So far, none of the family members have served time in prison.
“If there really was illicit wealth, it would have been extracted long ago,” said Jesse James Pangilinan, a 24-year-old Manila resident who voted for Marcos and Duterte on Monday morning. He said he believed the concerns about the unpaid taxes on the Marcos estate, but dismissed them because “they are not forced to pay it”.
Dante Mapilli, 30, and Jonarisa Esther, 37, also voted for Marcos, saying they believed in his message of unity and were impressed with how he did not run a negative campaign. They also do not believe that the family is a king of state funds. “As far as I know, he was already rich,” Esther said.
“I heard that Marcos’ father was paid with gold if he won a lawsuit,” Mapili added, echoing a popular, Internet-driven theory explaining the family’s wealth. Some of his supporters believe that Marcos will distribute his own fortune if he returns to power.
If he wins, Marcos is also expected to defend the departing Duterte from possible prosecution at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during its drug war, which left thousands dead in extrajudicial killings.
Voting was largely peaceful, but there were reports of technical problems with voting machines in Manila, causing long delays that affected about 1.1 million votes, according to election observer Kontra Daya.
The election commission told voters they could leave their ballots, but many endured the wait for fear of falsification and to ensure that their votes were cast in the machine. The phrase “don’t leave your ballot” has taken root on Twitter.
Marcos’ main rival is the independent candidate Robredo, a vocal critic of Marcos and the older Duterte – although she was his vice president. It was the main target of the disinformation operations and is 33 points behind Marcos.
Her supporters believe it could be a much closer battle, as the gathering of volunteers for her – which includes celebrities, church workers, farmers and students – culminated in a stellar closing rally on Saturday that drew more than a million crowds.
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Donna Jolo, a 33-year-old building administrator who attended the rally and then voted in Manila, said she believed in Robredo’s ideas and platform and was angry at online campaigns she said had slandered the candidate.
“I heard she helped people,” she said, describing Robredo’s efforts for farmers. “Even with women, she helps them make a living – she is an economist and knows the answer to poverty.”
A lawyer in the public interest and a former congresswoman who in particular waited in line for Monday’s vote, unlike her opponent, she struggled to win Marcos for vice president in 2016. He spent the next five years challenging the decision while the Supreme Court acting as an electoral tribunal, unanimously rejected his challenge last year.
In a brilliantly edited video released last week, Marcos stood on the podium and urged his supporters to be vigilant. “Let’s defend our decision and not let it be stolen from us again,” he said.
Marcos is already writing a story only if Robredo is upset, said Julio Tihanchi, a political scientist at the University of De la Sale. But because Marcos is “the de facto candidate for the administration, the opposition is unable to cheat in the election,” he added.
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Election officials are all appointed by Duterte, and the body has previously rejected disqualification cases against Marcos over a previous conviction for failing to file income tax returns.
This has raised concerns about whether the Philippines will be able to hold clean elections, amid a spinning mass of public disinformation fueled by the online armies of Marcos and Duterte supporters. Electoral violence and vote buying are also common in a country that has long been characterized by a policy of patronage dominated by several families.
The Marcos-Duterte tandem is a political marriage of two of the most powerful dynasties in the country. Experts say that this system, in which families and individuals dominate politics, is closely linked to corruption and poverty, as government spending and politics are related to personal services rather than public duties.
But if the history of the Philippines is an indicator, Tihanki warned, another corruption scandal could be “fatal to [Marcos’s] return to power. “After the 1986 revolution, a second uprising of the People’s Government in 2001 ousted then-President Joseph Estrada following corruption scandals haunting his mandate.
If Robredo’s mass campaign continues after the election, it will become a major force in the opposition.
“If this is Robredo’s presidency, it will be a partner movement,” said Barry Gutierrez, her spokeswoman. If not, it could mark the beginning of a new opposition separated from traditional parties. “This is an opposition I’m excited to see.”
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