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MANILA, KOMPAS.com – Public Filipina vote to elect a new president on Monday (9/5/2022), which analysts say will be the most significant election in the Southeast Asian nation’s recent history.
There was no second round, so the name of the new president could be known within hours. The inauguration will take place in June.
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However, politics can be a dangerous business in the Philippines and there is a risk of violence during the campaign and the election itself.
In one of the most gruesome incidents, dozens were killed and buried by the roadside in 2009 by rival political clans, in what became known as the Maguindanao massacre.
As for the President of the Philippines Rodrigo Dutertewho will step down from office, left a legacy of problems from the economic downturn, a crackdown on the media and its critics, and the issue of dealing with a pandemic that has killed at least 60,439 people.
In the current 2022 Presidential Election, there are 10 candidates battling to replace him, but only two stand a chance according to reports Al Jazeera.
The first and most favored is Ferdinand Marcos Jr., known as “Bongbong”. He is the son of the Philippine dictator of the same name, who was ousted and exiled in the 1986 uprising.
The second is Leni Robredo, the current vice president and head of the opposition, who promised a more accountable and transparent government to revive the country’s democracy.
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Good versus Evil
To Al Jazeera, Diliman University of the Philippines political scientist Aries Arugay said Philippines presidential election 2022 this is truly a campaign of good versus evil.
“It’s pretty clear. Marcos represented dynasty, autocracy and impunity. Robredo represents the opposite of that: integrity, accountability and democracy.”
Polls show Marcos Jr. remains in the lead although Robredo appears to be closing the gap.
The dictator’s 64-year-old son entered politics fortified his family’s name in Ilocos Norte since 1980. He became governor of the province when his father was ousted from power and democracy was restored.
In 1992, he was elected to congress – again for Ilocos Norte. Three years later, he was found guilty of tax evasion, a case that continues to haunt him but does not seem to hinder his political career.
Marcos Jr was elected senator in 2010, but failed to run for vice president of the Philippines six years later after losing to Robredo.
On the campaign trail, Marcos Jr spoke of “unity”, but gave few details about his policies and avoided interviews and media debate.
His favorite running mate is Sara Duterte-Carpio, Duterte’s daughter, who took over as mayor of Davao City from her father and led the vice presidential nomination.
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Meanwhile, Robredo is the current vice president and human rights lawyer who got into politics in 2013, after her husband (a government minister) was killed in a plane crash.
She entered political contestation at a relatively late stage, and relied on a network of “pink movement” volunteers to win over voters across the region.
Thousands of people have followed his campaign, some of whom stood for hours in the hot sun waiting to hear the presidential candidate’s speech.
Robredo is seeded paired with Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan. He is considered to be running a platform for good governance, democracy, and eradicating corruption.
Why is the Marcos family controversial?
Ferdinand Marcos, Marcos Jr’s father, became president of the Philippines in 1965. He won over the Filipino people with his charisma and rhetoric, and took over the country which at that time was emerging as one of the new powers in Southeast Asia.
Marcos won a second term in 1969. Three years later, he declared martial law which he claimed was meant to “save” the country from the communists.
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For the next 14 years, he ruled the country as a dictator. More than 3,200 people died, many whose bodies were dumped by the roadside as a warning to others.
Many others were tortured or arbitrarily imprisoned, according to US academic and historian Alfred McCoy.
Although many Filipinos were living in poverty at the time, the Marcos family bought properties in New York and California, paintings by artists including impressionist master Monet, luxury jewelry, and designer clothing.
In 2004, Transparency International estimated the couple embezzled as much as US$10 billion during their years in power. Imelda, Marcos’ wife, became a byword for her luxury.
But since the former dictator’s death in Hawaii in 1989, the Marcos family has been trying to rehabilitate their family name. They tried to portray the dictatorship as a kind of golden age.
In 2016, Duterte allowed Ferdinand Marcos to be buried in Manila’s heroes cemetery, complete with 21 gun salutes.
Read also: Towards the Presidential Election, Philippine Presidential Candidates Scramble for Public Support
Former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, or Bongbong, poses after submitting his certificate of candidacy for next year’s presidential election to the Election Commission at the Sofitel Harbor Park Tent in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday (6/10/2021). –
In the 2022 Philippine presidential election, the Duterte family is aligned with the Marcos family.
In a country where blood ties are more important than any political party, the candidacy of the former president’s two children has the backing of another politically influential dynasty.
“The extraordinary rise of the Marcos family is itself a major failure of the country’s democratic institutions,” wrote academic Richard Javad Heydarian in a column for Al Jazeera.
“Decades of judicial impunity, historical calcification, corrupt politics and exclusive economic growth are pushing more and more Filipinos into Marcos’ arms.”
Many fear that if the candidates from the Philippines’ political dynasties are elected – Marcos Jr. (President candidate) and Duterte’s daughter (vice presidential candidate), it could herald a new era of repression in the Philippines.
“Both of them are descendants of two powerful rulers,” said Arugay. “Can we expect a government that is restrained and inclusive? You don’t have to be a political scientist to answer that question.”
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Meanwhile, earlier this week around 1,200 religious leaders supported Robredo and Pangilinan. They are described as “the good shepherd”. At least 86 percent of Filipinos are Catholic.
“We cannot simply shrug our shoulders, and let the fate of our country be dictated by false and misleading claims that aim to change our history,” they said.
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