When Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was sworn in as president of the Philippines on June 30, he took his oath in front of the former legislative building where his father entered politics and swore on the same Bible used by the elder Mr. Marcos at his 1965 inauguration.
For victims of Mr. Marcos’s tyrannical reign, it was an insulting homage to the dead dictator. But it came as no surprise.
The younger Mr. Marcos rode to a landslide election win with a campaign that leaned heavily on the fiction of a triumphant golden age under his father. It was promoted by a well-oiled disinformation machine that brazenly ignored the thousands of people jailed, tortured or killed by the regime and the estimated $5 billion to $10 billion siphoned off by the Marcos family.… Seguir leyendo »
Last week, Adarna House – a publisher of children’s books in the Philippines – posted on social media about a discount it was offering: 20% off on a #NeverAgain book bundle. The selection includes Ito Ang Diktadura, the Tagalog translation of Equipo Plantel’s Así es la Dictadura, or This is a Dictatorship. The book was originally published in Spain when the country was transitioning from the Franco regime.
What seems like a mundane moment of online marketing was in fact a significant political act. Two days before the sale, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, the son and namesake of the late dictator, won the Philippines’ presidential election by a landslide.… Seguir leyendo »
When Philippine dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos landed in Hawaii in 1986 after being toppled in Manila’s “People Power” revolution, he and his entourage brought with them everything that was left to plunder.
They came with $300,000 in gold bars, bearer bonds worth another $150,000, countless pearl strands, a $12,000 jewel bracelet with the price tag still attached, and 22 crates of freshly minted Philippine pesos, at the time valued at around $1 million. On top of this were documents — a treasure trove of 2,000 pages outlining the extent of Marcos’s mass looting, including hidden ownership of at least four Manhattan skyscrapers and properties in Long Island and New Jersey.… Seguir leyendo »
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., known as Bongbong, was convicted of tax evasion. He also lied about his academic degree, according to Oxford University. Victims of his father’s brutal regime — which lasted for 20 years until his ouster in 1986 — accuse the younger Mr. Marcos of whitewashing history.
Yet Mr. Marcos, the unapologetic heir of the family that plundered billions of dollars from us Filipinos, is — absent a major upset — poised to win the presidential election on May 9.
This is possible only because our democracy has long been ailing. Disinformation is rewriting our past and clouding our present.… Seguir leyendo »
I was 8 years old when the “people power” uprising toppled the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines in 1986. I remember it as a terrifying time: My family was torn apart and I was forced to flee and hide. I felt I had been robbed of my home, childhood, country and culture. It took me decades to realize many things I believed about that period were lies — lies that are still being told.
I am the daughter of Gen. Fabian Ver. For 20-plus years, my father was Marcos’s right-hand man, the chief of staff of the armed forces and the overseer of the country’s intelligence and national security apparatus.… Seguir leyendo »
Ferdinand Marcos, the strongman who ruled the Philippines with an iron grip for two decades, may have died over 30 years ago, but his ghost haunts the Philippine presidential election that is slated to take place on May 9. Marcos, whose regime was characterized by fraud, corruption, and political repression, was ousted from power by a popular revolt in 1986 and later died in exile in Hawaii. This year, however, his son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., a 64-year-old former senator, is the leading contender for the Philippine presidency.
Marcos’s campaign has resurrected memories of his deposed dictator father and revived the trappings of his rule—the anthem of his New Society party, the red shirts that were once his signature attire, the stirring speeches delivered with hands slicing the air.… Seguir leyendo »
On 9 May, if present trends continue, the people of the Philippines will elect as their president and vice president the son of a discredited dictator and the daughter of a man being investigated for crimes against humanity. Opinion polls suggest the presidency will be won by Ferdinand Marcos Jr, better known as ‘Bongbong’, and the vice-presidency by Sara Duterte.
Bongbong’s father was Ferdinand Marcos Sr, who was elected president in 1965 and imposed martial law in 1972 before being deposed by a ‘people power’ revolution in 1986. During those two decades his family amassed billions of dollars in private wealth, oversaw the killing and disappearance of thousands of political opponents and created a debt-fuelled economic boom which ended in a major recession.… Seguir leyendo »
Filipinos have just gone through another election, apparently unchastened by a past too ignoble, too repetitive and too recent to be forgotten: They endorsed the repressive presidency of Rodrigo Duterte by voting in all of his candidates to the Senate.
Half of the Senate’s 24 seats were up in midterm elections last week, and all, the election commission announced Wednesday, have gone to Duterte supporters. It was a sweep — and the freshest baffling evidence that Mr. Duterte’s repressive regime and growing authoritarianism have not put a dent in his popularity.
For decades, Filipinos have time and again brought on themselves leaders who promised quick reforms but ended up exploiting them.… Seguir leyendo »
The victory of political outsider Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 Philippines’ elections is proof that a significant minority of the country’s population feels left behind by its recent economic success and estranged from its political elite. However the results of the elections as a whole suggest that most voters opted for a continuation of the current government’s policies.
Duterte looks almost certain to be inaugurated as the next president of the Philippines on 30 June. The country’s presidential voting system – a single round, first-past-the-post election – delivered victory to a populist outsider with 39 per cent support. Two candidates advocating a continuation of the current government’s policies − the Liberal Party’s Mar Roxas and independent Grace Poe − polled a combined 45 per cent.… Seguir leyendo »
There was no tension on the faces of the police officers guarding City Hall in Pasig City on Monday evening. The mood outside was festive: Working-class Filipinos in sandals, basketball shorts and tank tops were sharing snacks and joking as they watched on a large screen the returns for the national election held earlier that day. Nearby, several police officers sat in the white, plastic monobloc chairs endemic to Filipino bureaucracy, taking it easy.
The bloodshed that so often attends political changeovers in the Philippines was happening in other provinces. Somewhere else, gunmen had shot candidates and voters. Somewhere else, a grenade had been thrown at a market.… Seguir leyendo »
Take a look around the world and the phenomenon is hard to miss: the call of the strongman echoes in all corners of the world. Indeed, while Donald Trump might seem like a one-of-a-kind to many Americans, he's simply the Made in the USA version of a familiar figure around the globe.
Unfortunately, we have seen this movie before -- narcissistic, muscular politicians who promise to solve the country's difficulties by the sheer force of their personality. Look at Vladimir Putin in Russia, or Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, who promised much, but ended up delivering a steady erosion of democratic freedoms.… Seguir leyendo »
A carnival-like atmosphere has descended on this country ahead of the presidential election on Monday: dancing showgirls at campaign events, candidates inviting one another to “slap me,” and reports of cash distributed in exchange for cheers. The Philippine system of government, inherited from our American colonizers, is unique, with its raucous collection of political parties based not on ideology but on personality.
Five candidates are running for president and six more for vice president, who is elected separately. But real choice is scarce. Most politicians come from among a few dozen familiar dynasties that have ruled the country for the last two generations.… Seguir leyendo »
Philippine national elections are set for Monday, but just because a vote is scheduled doesn't mean it will actually occur. The Southeast Asian nation is one of those places where talk about voting usually is preceded by the sad qualifier, "if the election happens. ..." This year is no different.
The latest trouble in the archipelago is a mechanical one. On Tuesday, less than a week before polls open, the Commission on Elections revealed that there were software problems in all 76,000 voting machines spread across the country's more than 7,000 islands. The race is now on to try to acquire, deliver, install and test tens of thousands of new memory cards as well as devise a backup plan to handle the 50 million voters expected on Monday.… Seguir leyendo »
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