Ferdinand Marcos, the son of the former Philippine dictator of the same name, held his last campaign rally in a presidential election campaign in which he is the favorite to win.
His election victory tomorrow will crown decades of efforts to revive the legacy of his father, who was expelled in 1986 and forced to emigrate to the United States. But the prospect of the arrival of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the presidential palace worries human rights activists, religious figures and political scientists who fear an “emancipated” government.
Ten candidates are vying for the seat of President Rodrigo Duterte in a one-round ballot, in which a relative majority is sufficient to elect the president. Thousands of Marcos supporters, dressed in red, yesterday, despite the scorching sun and high winds, gathered on a dusty wasteland overlooking a luxurious casino, a reminder of the huge disparity in wealth in this country.
To return to power after being ostracized, the Marcos circles used popular anger against corruption and persistent poverty under successive governments after the fall of the dictatorship.
Opinion polls have shown that Marcos Jr. can win the presidential election with an absolute majority, which will be a precedent after the departure of his father. Observers fear that such an outcome would weaken the balance of power, spur corruption and lead to a new attempt to overhaul the 1987 constitution, including the repeal of an article limiting the number of presidential terms to one.
