Bongbong, son of the former president, would have won a landslide victory with twice as many votes than his rival, former vice president Robredo
By midnight, even before the official results were known, isolated strings of fireworks began to explode over the Manila skies. As the polls predicted, but many refused to believe, the son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who shares the same name and is known as Bongbong, is emerging as the undisputed winner of yesterday’s Philippine elections.
According to the partial and unofficial results presented at midnight – Philippine time – by the Transparency Server of the Electoral Commission, which already represented 81.8% of the census, Marcos redoubled his support for his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robred. For his 12.5 million votes, Bongbong had 26.3 million, which made Robredo’s comeback impossible at the time. Of the 67.4 million registered voters, Marcos is able to get almost half the vote after a day of extremely high participation.
From the time polls opened at 6am until they closed at 7pm, there were long queues at their doors. The crowd resisted the intense heat and cooled off with oriental stoicism as they waited their turn. Adding to the influx of audiences was the complexity of the Philippines’ magazine, which includes not only the ten presidential candidates but also a long list of senators, congressmen, governors and mayors. In total, up to 18,000 officials were elected.
“I am going to vote for the BBM president, Bongbong Marcos. Why? Because I’ve seen the era of Corazon Aquino,” explains Pia Tan, a 42-year-old housewife, referring to the widow of assassinated opposition leader Benigno Aquino and the Philippines’ first democratic president after the dictator’s overthrow. against his government and that of his son Noynoy, he committed to “giving the next Marcos a chance, because what his father taught him will certainly yield something better.” Reluctant to talk about the dictatorship, he told that “My father and my mother lived through that time and they say it was very good because of the discipline of the people. Most of my relatives had a good life during the martial law. Some will criticize it because there is something bad behind sit.
Even de Marcos’ kleptocracy, estimated at between €4,727 and 9,455 million, does not deter its supporters. “Are you sure it was? Were we there to see it? If they actually took the money, do you think they would have the guts to go back to the Philippines and become governors like Bongbong in Ilocos Norte after their return?” Pia Tan wondered, as the Marcos social media campaign has accused of misinforming and rewriting the past.
Outside the Philippines, few understand the success of the dictator’s son, who was overthrown by the People Power Revolution in 1986. “Actually, we don’t quite understand it either. There are people who have fought for us to get freedom and get rid of his father’s dictatorship and now the time comes when his son will run for office and some Filipinos will support him.” , Nicole Miranda, a young employee of a European multinational. For her, the only possible explanation is that Marcos’ followers are “getting false information, but that’s what they believe and all we can do is resist it.”
While Robredo has the support of the urban middle class, college students and business people, the poor and rural masses support Bongbong Marcos and his vice president, Sara Duterte, daughter of the current president, very popular for her bloody dirty war on drugs. A strong hand that supports many Filipinos due to the high crime rate, but which is even transferred in the field of political bullying.
This is how Andy Dugay, a volunteer of Leni Robredo, suffered during his campaign in Ilocos Norte province, Marcos’ stronghold. “It’s really hard to work here for another game. We go from house to house and find bullying. Sometimes cars drive around us that follow the team’, he criticized last weekend after handing out his brochures in Paoay.
Source: La Verdad
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