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The son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos could become the new head of state if the first figures that mark a comfortable victory in the elections are made official. On her part, Sara Duterte-Carpio –daughter of outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte- asserts herself as vice president with another broad victory.
This Monday, May 9, the elections were held in the Philippines where the next presidential binomial was to be defined, along with a dozen seats in the Senate, in Congress and numerous provincial and local positions. According to the provisional results, Marcos Jr. is heading to be the new president of the nation by an insurmountable margin.
‘Bongbong’ Marcos, son of the deceased dictator Ferdinand Marcos, would double Leni Robledo, current vice president and official candidate, according to the unofficial count of the Electoral Commission (COMELEC)
At 64 years old, Marcos Jr. would reach 60% of the votes and would become Rodrigo Duterte’s successor as president for the next six years in a single term. In addition, he would achieve an unprecedented milestone in the Philippines by being the first president elected in three decades by an absolute majority.
If the overwhelming victory materializes, it will mean the return of the Marcos family to the highest power in the country, after what was the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos.
During his 21 years rooted in the presidential chair, he received accusations of despotism and corruption, 3,257 people were summarily executed, thousands more were tortured and around 10,000 million dollars were diverted from the public treasury.
Finally, a peaceful popular revolt in 1986 ended the Marcos cycle (which began in 1965) and marked a return to democratic paths. The dictator and his family had to flee into exile, only to return in the 1990s.
The polls that were released throughout the election campaign predicted a resounding victory for Marcos despite his father’s oppressive background. If ratified, he will have his revenge on Robredo, who surpassed him by 200,000 votes in the 2016 vice presidency and, in addition, was an ally of the movement that overthrew Marcos Sr.
The campaign lasted three months and was severely conditioned by disinformation operations on social networks and the large number of attacks between candidates.
While Sara Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of the current president, presented herself as the couple for the tandem with Marcos for the presidency and would have won the elections with a considerable difference.
Election day was characterized by long lines at the polling stations and technical problems. About 67 million Filipinos were eligible to vote, which meant that the closing of the polls should be extended for one more hour in most polling stations.
At the scheduled closing time -19:00 local time-, only 21% of the polling stations had finished due to the significant influx of citizens who were still waiting to cast their votes.
With EFE and Reuters
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