Familial dynasties seize top political posts in the Philippines.
36 years after his father was ousted from dictatorship, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. won the office of President of the Philippines in a landslide victory Monday.
On a ticket with Sara Duterte, the daughter of outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte, Bongbong claimed 59% of the vote share in a field of 10 candidates. His closest challenger, outgoing vice president Leni Robredo, won 29%. In the separate vice presidential contest, Sara Duterte easily coasted to office with 61% of the vote.
Some believe Bongbong’s victory portends a slow erosion of democratic norms and institutions in the Philippines, the New York Times reports, while others see him as a scion of political royalty who will let technocrats handle the country’s day to day affairs, The Economist reports.
“The election of Bongbong and Duterte to the two highest positions in the country proved that procedural democracy is working,” Archie Resos, a history professor at the University of Santo Thomas who has published extensively on Marcos Sr.’s foreign policy, wrote in an email to FrontierMarkets.co.