Jim Gomez
Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the eponymous son of an ousted dictator, was sworn in as president of the Philippines on June 30, the greatest in recent history. One of his political comebacks, which opponents say succeeded by whitewashing his family image.
Thirty-six years after an army-backed “people power” uprising ousted his father and brought him into disrepute, his rise to power has upended the politics of Asian democracies, where public holidays, monuments and the Philippine constitution are reminders of the end. Ferdinand The tyrannical rule of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
But in his inaugural address, Marcos Jr. defended his late father’s legacy, saying he accomplished many things that haven’t been done since the country’s independence, adding that he would emulate him.
“He did it, sometimes with support and sometimes without. So will his son,” he said, to applause from supporters in the crowd. “You won’t get any excuses from me.”
“My father built more and better roads and produced more rice than any administration before him,” said Marcos Jr., who also praised his equally controversial predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s infrastructure projects.
He called for unity, saying “we will go further than confront each other and move forward instead of pulling each other.” He did not mention the human rights abuses and looting his father was accused of, saying he would not talk about the past, but Talk about the future.
Activists and survivors of the martial law era under his father protested Marcos Jr.’s inauguration, which took place at a noon ceremony on the steps of the National Museum in Manila. Thousands of police officers, including riot contingents, SWAT commandos and snipers, were deployed in the tourist area of the Gulf to ensure safety.
Foreign dignitaries including Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and Doug Emhoff, husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, were present.
“Wow, did this really happen?” asked Bonifacio Ilagan, a 70-year-old activist who was crushed by insurgent forces during the reign of Marcos Sr. detention and torture. “It’s been a nightmare for martial law victims like me.”
This historical baggage and confrontation will be plagued by serious crises during Marcos’ six-year presidency.
The Philippines has been one of the worst-hit countries in Asia by the two-year coronavirus pandemic after more than 60,000 deaths and an extended lockdown plunged the economy into its worst recession since World War II and exacerbated poverty, unemployment and hunger. Earlier this year, as the outbreak eased, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent global inflation soaring and raised fears of food shortages.
Marcos Jr. previously announced that he will serve as agriculture secretary on an interim basis when he takes office to prepare for a possible food supply emergency. “I think the problem is serious enough,” he said, adding that he had asked his key advisers to be prepared for “emergencies, especially with regard to food supplies.”
He also inherited decades of Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime, growing inequality and political divisions sharpened by his election.
Congress declared his landslide victory, along with his running mate Sarah Duterte, the outgoing president’s daughter, in the vice presidential race.
“I ask everyone to pray for me and wish me luck. I want to do well, because when the president does well, the country does well,” he said after a congressional statement.
Marcos got over 31 million votes and Sarah Duterte got over 32 million in the May 9 election – a huge victory that would provide them with strong political capital because They face enormous challenges and doubts from the following aspects. their father’s reputation. It was the Philippines’ first victory for a majority president in decades.
Outgoing President Duterte presided over a brutal anti-drug campaign that killed thousands of mostly poor suspects in an unprecedented killing, and the International Criminal Court is investigating a possible crime against humanity. The investigation was suspended in November, but the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has called for an immediate resumption.
Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte face calls to help prosecute her father and cooperate with the International Court of Justice.
The former governor, congressman and Senator Marcos Jr. has refused to admit to the massive human rights abuses and corruption that marked his father’s reputation.
During the campaign, he and Sarah Duterte avoided contentious issues and focused on vague calls for national unity.
His father, who was overthrown by a largely peaceful democratic uprising in 1986 and died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, has pleaded not guilty to any wrongdoing, including accusations that he, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $5 billion during his tenure to $10 billion.
A Hawaii court later found him responsible for human rights violations and awarded $2 billion in restitution to more than 9,000 Filipinos who sued him for torture, imprisonment, extrajudicial executions and disappearances.
In 1991, Imelda Marcos and her children were allowed to return to the Philippines and reinvigorated the surname with the help of a well-funded social media campaign.
Marcos is allied with Sara Duterte, whose father remains popular despite his human rights record and is powerful as a member of one of the country’s most recognizable political dynasties The name recall helped him win the presidency. Many Filipinos are still poor and disenchanted with a post-Marcos government, said Manila-based analyst Richard Heydarian.
“These allow the Marcos family to present themselves as an alternative,” Heydarian said. “The unregulated social media environment has allowed their disinformation networks to rename the dark days of martial law as the golden age of the Philippines.”
Along Metro Manila’s main avenues, the shrines and monuments of democracy erected after Marcos’ fall in 1986 are prominent. The anniversary of his ouster is celebrated every year as a special national holiday, and a presidential commission that has worked for decades to recover the Marcos family’s ill-gotten gains remains in place.
Marcos Jr. did not explain how he would deal with such stark reminders of the past.
