There was enough money to pay for his campaigns. Much of the fortune that the Marcos family had plundered together was never recovered. Son Bongbong became a member of parliament in 1992, then governor and senator in 2010. In 2016, he ran for vice president; in the Philippines, he is elected independently of the president.
Imelda formed an alliance with then-presidential candidate Duterte in the hopes that Bongbong would become vice president in the slipstream of his popularity. Duterte won his race, but Bongbong surprisingly lost to human rights activist Leni Robredo.
That was no reason for the Marcos family to give up. The focus was on the presidential election of 2022. And an online network was set up to rewrite the bloody history of dictator Marcos via social media.
According to media platform The Rappler of Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, videos or Facebook and posts on Twitter are used to better portray that time by “denying the kleptocracy and human rights violations, exaggerating Marcos’s achievements and defaming the media, rivals and critics.”
Ties to Duterte
Ties to the Duterte family have been kept intact. Because when Bongbong ran for president, Sarah Duterte became his running mate for the vice presidency. A winning combination, because just like her father, Sarah Duterte is extremely popular in the Philippines.
With her by his side, Bongbong seems unbeatable. They are often supported by young Filipinos who have never experienced the dictatorship. Marcos would get 56 percent of the vote according to the latest polls, ahead of his closest rival by tens of percentage points.
If Ferdinand Marcos junior does indeed become president, it could have major consequences for the processing of traumas that the Philippines has suffered in recent decades. Bongbong can coach lawsuits over abuses and stolen funds during his father’s presidency. He can also stop investigations into the deadly drug war of the current president and father of his running mate.
Imelda watches from a distance. Because of corona, she stays away from crowds at the age of 92. But she still manages in the background. “She’s still very, very involved in everything we do,” Bongbong said in an interview with CNN Philippines. The comeback she directed seems to be coming, by making history more beautiful than it was. Because, says Imelda in The Kingmaker, “Perception is real. And the truth is not.”
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