The Sons and Daughters of Dictators Seize Power in the Philippines... Economic and Diplomatic Challenges Ahead (Comprehensive)

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left), son of the 'dictator' former President Ferdinand Marcos, and Sara Duterte Carpio, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte and vice presidential candidate, raised their hands to supporters on the last day of the political campaign held on the 7th in Para?aque City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Manila (Philippines) = AFP · Yonhap News Photo by AFP

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The son of Ferdinand Marcos, the former dictator and iron-fisted ruler of the Philippines, has been elected as the next president. The daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, who ran as Marcos's running mate, has secured the vice presidency.

According to local media such as ABS-CBN on the 10th, in the presidential election held the previous day, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos was projected to win by an overwhelming margin. As of 7:32 a.m. local time, with 95.80% of the votes counted, former Senator Marcos had received about 30.46 million votes, far ahead of his competitor, Vice President Leni Robredo, who had about 14.51 million votes. Manny Pacquiao, a former boxing champion who ran for president, received only 3.5 million votes. This tally is a partial and unofficial count based on data from the Philippine Commission on Elections, with the official announcement expected later this month.

◆The son of the ‘dictator and queen of extravagance’... seizes power after 36 years= The president-elect, who inherited his name from his father, former President Marcos, ruled from 1965 to 1986 and was criticized as a dictator for harsh repression, including the torture and killing of thousands of opponents. He was forced to resign in 1986 following a popular uprising and went into exile in Hawaii, where he later died. His mother, Imelda Marcos, is known worldwide as the ‘queen of extravagance.’ After the family’s exile to Hawaii, more than 3,000 pairs of high-end branded shoes, luxury bags, and jewelry boxes were discovered in the presidential palace’s underground storage, sparking public outrage.

In the 1990s, Marcos’s son returned to the Philippines and was elected governor and senator in Ilocos Norte, the political home of the family in the north. In 2016, he ran for vice president but narrowly lost to the incumbent Vice President Robredo.

Sarah Duterte, daughter of President Duterte and mayor of Davao, has secured the vice presidency. She received about 30.82 million votes, far ahead of her competitor, Senator Francis Pangilinan, who had about 9.04 million votes. Along with the presidential and vice-presidential elections, the Philippines also held elections for 13 senators, 300 members of the House of Representatives, and 18,000 local government officials.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆How will they solve the faltering economy and complex diplomatic challenges?= The biggest challenges facing the Marcos administration are establishing diplomatic policies toward the U.S. and China and reviving the faltering Philippine economy.

In the context of escalating U.S.-China rivalry, the Philippines, a strategic military hub connecting the South China Sea and the Pacific, naturally draws global attention to its foreign policy. Experts predict that Marcos will likely follow a pro-China approach similar to President Duterte, while also possibly attempting to improve relations with the U.S. However, considering that the vice president-elect, Sarah Duterte, who played a key role in Marcos’s victory, is Duterte’s daughter, and that many political and governmental supporters during the campaign have Chinese ancestry, it is also assessed that it will be difficult to significantly deviate from the previously maintained anti-American and pro-China trajectory.

Attention is also focused on whether the administration can rebuild the Philippine economy, which has been in crisis since COVID-19. During the presidential campaign, Marcos pledged to create jobs and overcome the economic crisis. The Philippines’ GDP growth rate plummeted from 5.9% in 2019 to -9.6% in 2020 following the spread of COVID-19. It somewhat recovered to 5.7% last year, but key income sources such as tourism have yet to improve. Worsening national debt is also a problem. According to the Philippine Department of Finance, the national debt-to-GDP ratio surged from 39.6% in 2019 to 54.6% in 2020 and 63.1% in 2021.

Unified leadership to overcome opposition rejecting the ‘dictator’s son’ will also be put to the test. Supporters of Vice President Robredo, centered around university student councils, are protesting the results, alleging election fraud.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.