Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is sworn in as president of an archipelago stifled by economic crisis and violence, with praise for his father and the dictatorial regime he has enforced for 21 years
The shadow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos returns to the Philippines bigger than ever from today. The dictator’s 64-year-old son has assumed the presidency of the country after winning the last election, where he gained the support of 30 million voters. The paradox is present in several ways in this official act. Marcos Jr. joins the head of government on the same dates his father imposed martial law during a corrupt and violent dictatorship that killed more than 3,000, tortured tens of thousands and used arbitrary detention as common currency against dissidents. Another major paradox is that while the hitherto President Rodrigo Duterte relinquishes power, his stamp will also remain in the new cabinet thanks to his daughter, Sara Duterte Carpio, who will hold the vice presidency after a unique alliance between two friendly enemies.
Everything in this government relay has the makings of a TV series. Marcos Jr. culminates in the goal of re-associating the family name with the highest position of power in the Philippines after his father was overthrown in a 1986 popular uprising. This brought an end to 21 years of dictatorship, the main reminder of which is the misappropriation of public funds, authoritarianism and the collection of thousands of shoes from the ‘first lady’, Imelda.
The ‘iron butterfly’, as she is popularly known, has been instrumental in the return to the presidency of one of her three sons. He has managed to banish the excesses and wastefulness of his parents into the background to convince millions of Filipinos that those decades of hard regime were a time of prosperity. It is the triumph of the power of social networks, where the president has poured messages befitting him after avoiding debates and public events, and the promises that fruitful years will come with a Marcos in the Executive. Not apart from this victory is the critical situation of the archipelago, with more than 3.5 million citizens living in extreme poverty according to Oxfam Intermon and frequent armed clashes with various factions of the Islamic insurgency.
The new leader has also taken on the task of trying to whitewash his mother’s image in interviews where he reiterates that he always asks for “advice” because he is a “political genius” who has “huge influence in the family”. At the age of 92 and on bail since 2018, when a court in Manila convicted him of seven crimes of corruption, of the younger generations who did not suffer under the dictatorship, Imelda is remembered more for her eccentric heap of bags and dresses than for her. the economic devastation that was caused to the nation. Or because of unfortunate comments like those made when she was being investigated for the murders committed during the dictatorship (“when they went into my closets looking for skeletons, they only found shoes”) or when asked about her influence in that government: ” The masses are taking lessons.” In 1986, after being overthrown before the founding of the Corazón Aquina Executive, the couple fled to Hawaii as “friends” from the United States, carrying bags full of cash and jewelry. Imelda and Ferdinand, who died in exile, are said to have defrauded up to $10 billion in state treasury and stored a large fortune in Switzerland.
None of this has crept into the inauguration ceremony of the little ‘Bongbong’, as he called Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is called. He has been sworn in at Manila’s National Museum, accompanied by hundreds of politicians, officials and sympathizers whom he has recalled proud of his father’s regime. “I once knew a man who saw how little had been accomplished since independence. And he did. So shall it be with your son. You won’t get an apology from me,” he assured an auditorium protected by 15,000 police officers and members of the military. Meanwhile, there have been street demonstrations demanding “justice for political prisoners,” the paternal legacy he apparently prefers to ignore.
The man he succeeds, Rodrigo Duterte, does not leave a brilliant legacy either. His six years in office have been marked by the blood spilled in a brutal battle against the drug trade that left between 6,200 deaths according to the government and nearly 30,000 according to the tally of civil rights groups. He faces an investigation by the International Criminal Court because of the many shadows cast in this war; especially the murder of innocents and the impunity of paramilitary groups. A member of a prominent political clan in the Philippines, Duterte served as mayor of Davao City in his youth and became famous for going out on patrol with police armed with a pistol on his belt in search of criminals.
That man known as ‘Dirty Harry’ is 77 years old today and has barely carried out his populist campaign, ravaged by health problems. He got ten million votes less than his rival. Naturally, he leaves to ensure the family name continues to lead the Philippines thanks to an alliance of covenience that makes his daughter vice president. Resentment is also distilled. This Wednesday, hours before the presidential ceremony, he ordered the closure of the digital newspaper Rappler, founded by journalist María Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner for her defense of freedom of expression. Ressa has a long history of complaints and intimidation by the Philippine government for his criticism of Duterte and other high-ranking politicians in the archipelago.
The future of the country is now a mystery. Marcos Jr. faces the challenge of boosting the economy and aims to make food production one of the largest sources of employment and wealth in the Philippines. In fact, he has appointed himself Minister of Agriculture to lead the reform of this sector, which is essential for national finances. It must also restore relations with the United States, which had cooled during the Duterte era, and seek to reaffirm Philippine leadership in the China Sea. But doubts grow among his opponents, who see a risk in his personal revisionism, without any criticism, of his father’s regime. The Marcos family seems to go to great lengths to restore its image. In this effort, critics frame the new president’s tribute to his father’s legacy and the constant use of social networks to misinform ironclad and institutional looting about that past.
Source: La Verdad
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