MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The namesake son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos appeared to have been elected Philippine president by a landslide in an astonishing reversal of the 1986 “Folks Energy” pro-democracy revolt that ousted his father.
Marcos Jr. had greater than 30.8 million votes within the unofficial outcomes with greater than 97% of the votes tabulated as of Tuesday afternoon. His nearest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, a champion of human rights, had 14.7 million votes in Monday’s election, and boxing nice Manny Pacquiao appeared to have the third highest whole with 3.5 million.
His operating mate, Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing president and mayor of southern Davao metropolis, had a formidable lead within the separate vice presidential race.
The alliance of the scions of two authoritarian leaders mixed the voting energy of their households’ political strongholds within the north and south however compounded worries of human rights activists.
Dozens of anti-Marcos protesters rallied on the Fee on Elections, blaming the company for the breakdown of vote-counting machines and different points that prevented folks from casting their votes. Election officers stated the influence of the malfunctioning machines was minimal.
A gaggle of activists who suffered beneath the dictatorship stated they had been enraged by Marcos’s obvious victory and would oppose it.
“A attainable win based mostly on a marketing campaign constructed on blatant lies, historic distortions and mass deception is tantamount to dishonest your solution to victory,” stated the group Marketing campaign In opposition to the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Regulation. “This isn’t acceptable.”
Etta Rosales, a former Fee on Human Rights chairwoman who was twice arrested and tortured throughout martial regulation within the Nineteen Seventies, stated Marcos Jr.’s obvious victory drove her to tears however wouldn’t cease her from persevering with efforts to carry the Marcoses to account.
“I’m only one among the many many who had been tortured; others had been killed, I used to be raped. We suffered beneath the Marcos regime within the struggle for justice and freedom and this occurs,” Rosales stated.
Marcos Jr. — identified by the nickname Bongbong — and Sara Duterte averted risky points throughout their marketing campaign and as a substitute caught steadfastly to a battle cry of nationwide unity, though their fathers’ presidencies opened a number of the most turbulent divisions within the nation’s historical past.
Marcos Jr. has not claimed victory however thanked his supporters in a late-night “handle to the nation” video, the place he urged them to remain vigilant till the vote rely is accomplished.
“If we’ll be lucky, I’ll count on that your assist won’t wane, your belief won’t wane, as a result of we now have a number of issues to do within the instances forward,” he stated.
Robredo has not conceded defeat however acknowledged the huge Marcos Jr. lead within the unofficial rely. She informed her supporters the struggle for reforms and democracy received’t finish with the elections.
“The voice of the folks is getting clearer and clearer,” she stated. “Within the identify of the Philippines, which I do know you additionally love so dearly, we must always hear this voice as a result of ultimately, we solely have this one nation to share.”
She requested her supporters to proceed to face up: “Press for the reality. It took lengthy for the construction of lies to be erected. We now have the time and alternative now to struggle and dismantle this.”
The election winner will take workplace on June 30 for a single six-year time period as chief of a Southeast Asian nation hit laborious by two years of COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns and lengthy troubled by crushing poverty, gaping inequalities, Muslim and communist insurgencies and deep political divisions.
The following president can even possible face calls for to prosecute outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte for hundreds of killings throughout his anti-drug crackdown — deaths already beneath investigation by the Worldwide Legal Court docket.
Amnesty Worldwide stated it was deeply involved by Marcos Jr.’s and Sara Duterte’s avoidance of discussions of human rights violations, previous and current, within the Philippines. “If confirmed, the Marcos Jr. administration will face a big selection of pressing human rights challenges,” the rights group stated in an announcement Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch additionally known as for Marcos Jr., if he takes workplace, to enhance the human rights scenario within the Philippines.
“He ought to declare an finish to the ‘battle on medication’ that has resulted within the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of Filipinos, and order the neutral investigation and acceptable prosecution of officers answerable for these illegal killings,” stated Phil Robertson, the group’s deputy director for Asia.
Marcos Jr., a 64-year-old former provincial governor, congressman and senator, has defended the legacy of his father and steadfastly refused to acknowledge and apologize for the huge human rights violations and plunder beneath his father’s strongman rule.
After his ouster by the largely peaceable 1986 rebellion, the elder Marcos died in 1989 whereas in exile in Hawaii with out admitting any wrongdoing, together with accusations that he, his household and cronies amassed an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion whereas he was in energy.
A Hawaii courtroom later discovered him accountable for human rights violations and awarded $2 billion from his property to compensate greater than 9,000 Filipinos who filed a lawsuit towards him for torture, incarceration, extrajudicial killings and disappearances.
His widow, Imelda Marcos, and their kids had been allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991 and labored on a surprising political comeback, helped by a well-funded social media marketing campaign to refurbish the household identify.
