The son of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos will be sworn in as president on Thursday, completing a decades-long effort to restore the clan to the country’s highest office.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., 64, won last month ‘s election by a landslide victory, his biggest victory since his father was overthrown by a popular uprising in 1986.
He succeeds the very popular Rodrigo Duterte, who earned international infamy for his deadly war on drugs and has threatened to kill alleged traffickers after leaving office.
Marcos Jr. will take the oath at noon in a public ceremony at the Manila National Museum in front of hundreds of local and foreign dignitaries and journalists.
More than 15,000 police, soldiers and Coast Guard personnel have been deployed in the capital for the inauguration.
It comes days after the Supreme Court ruled out last-ditch attempts to disqualify Marcos Jr. from the election and prevent him from taking office.
As rising prices tighten an economy already devastated by Covid-19, Marcos Jr. has made tackling inflation, boosting growth and increasing food production its priorities.
He has taken the rare step of being appointed secretary of agriculture to lead the review of the troubled sector.
Marcos Jr. has also pledged to defend the rights of the Philippines to the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost completely.
But he has offered few details on how he will achieve his goals or some clues about his leadership style after largely avoiding media interviews.
Pro-Duterte commentator Rigoberto Tiglao recently wrote that he was “optimistic” about an “economic boom” under Marcos Jr.
Tiglao noted the “accomplished academics” of Marcos Jr.’s economic team and the support of “powerful tycoons” who will be able to offer him advice and financial support.
Marcos Jr., who seems more polite and enterprising than Duterte, was dragged to power with the help of a massive disinformation campaign on social media.
Pro-Marcos groups bombarded Filipinos with false or misleading posts that showed the family in a positive light, while ignoring the corruption and abuse of rights of the 20-year-old patriarch.
Crucial to Marcos Jr.’s success was an alliance with Duterte’s daughter Sara, who secured the position of vice president with more votes than him, and the support of rival dynasties.
Many expect Marcos Jr. to be less violent and more predictable than the great Duterte, but activists and the religious clergy fear he may take advantage of his victory to consolidate power.
“Marcos Jr.’s refusal to acknowledge the abuses and evils of the past, in fact praising the dictatorship as ‘golden years’, makes it very likely that he will continue his dark legacy during his tenure,” he warned. left-wing alliance Bayan.
Marcos Jr., who has distanced himself from his father’s rule but did not criticize it, last month pledged to “always strive for perfection.”
He has held most cabinet positions. But the most influential councilor during his six-year term will probably be his wife, Louise, who claims to have no interest in joining his government, but is believed to have led his campaign.
Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Philippine Confederation of Employers, said the country had “a great chance that we can move forward and move forward” under Marcos Jr.
“We are very optimistic about the quality of leadership we have now,” Ortiz-Luis told AFP.
Unlike Duterte, who moved away from the United States to China, Marcos Jr. has indicated that he will seek a more balanced relationship with the two superpowers.
Marcos Jr. said last month that he would adopt a foreign policy “friends of all, enemy of no one.”
But unlike Duterte, he insisted he would maintain an international decision against Beijing over the resource-rich South China Sea.
While he has supported Duterte’s war on drugs, which has killed thousands of mostly poor men, he probably won’t enforce it so aggressively.
“I believe the Philippine political elite is ready to move from a war on drugs led by violence,” said Greg Wyatt, director of business intelligence at PSA Philippines Consultancy.
“The war on drugs attracted enough negative attention.”