Bongbong - Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son of the disgraced late Philippines leader Ferdinand Marcos, told the world to judge him by his presidency, not his family’s past, after he was on course for a stunning election victory. Marcos, better known as “Bongbong”, become the first candidate in recent history to win an outright majority in a Philippines presidential election, paving the way for a once-unimaginable return to rule for the country’s most notorious political dynasty. “Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions,” Marcos told the world, according to a statement by his spokesperson Vic Rodriguez.
Many who did not support Marcos were angered by what they saw as a brazen attempt by the once-reviled former first family to use its mastery of social media to reinvent historical narratives of its time in power. Thousands of opponents of the senior Marcos suffered persecution during a brutal 1972-1981 era of martial law, and the family name became synonymous with plunder, cronyism and extravagant living, with billions of dollars of state wealth disappearing.
A big win for Marcos was securing President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter as his vice presidential running mate. Sara Duterte-Carpio won more than three times the number of votes compared with her nearest rival and also likely broadened the Marcos appeal in many areas.
Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr., announced 05 October 2021 his bid for the presidency in 2022. Also known as Bongbong or BBM, he joined a field of contenders seeking to replace the outgoing Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos Jr. was the fourth candidate to announce a bid for the presidency in 2022. The mayor of Manila, Francisco Domagoso, registered his candidacy and boxing legend Manny Pacquaio has also announced. A former police chief, Senator Panfilo Lacson, has also said he is running. Soon after Marcos filed for President in 2022, he announced that Sara Duterte-Carpio would be his vice president pick. For many political analysts, this came as a surprise because Sara led the opinion polls throughout the year as a top pick for President.
Having been in public service for over 25 years, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. had achieved a distinguished career in government. His electoral journey has allowed him to serve in several positions in both the executive and legislative branches of government. He previously served as a Senator (6 years), Congressman (6 years), Governor (12 years) and Vice-Governor (3 years). His various stints in government have allowed him to carve his niche in the Philippine’s rich political history.
Political dynasties dominate many Philippine elections at the national, provincial, and local levels. Despite clear term limitations, political dynasties often turn to other family members to "warm" their seats until they can return or simply trade seats. Family-dominated politics reflect a highly stratified elite structure, the importance of name recognition coupled with weak political parties and old-fashioned patronage. With few exceptions, politics in the Philippines remains very much an elite, insider game. Few upstarts or grass-roots "poor boy" candidates succeed in challenging traditional landowners or local chieftains, who in many cases have dominated the area for decades or even generations.
This is a reflection of a highly stratified, almost feudal societal structure, although a few of the more recently rich Sino-Philippine families have begun to edge out some older families. The other key to success in local and even national politics is simple name recognition; voters remember the politicians' names they have always known and continue to write in the newest family candidates. The personality-driven political system with its weak and ever-changing political parties makes such family ties even more important. On top of these factors, old-fashioned patronage -- along with allegations of vote buying and command voting by local "barangay" captains to ensure precinct voters make the "right" choice -- continues to play a more sinister but almost inevitable role in favoring incumbents and their anointed relatives.
Popularly known as "Bongbong," the son who bears the same name as his father, said that he was throwing his hat in the ring to replace President Rodrigo Duterte, who is stepping downdue to term limits, in the 2022 elections. "Join me in this noblest process and we will succeed," Marcos Jr. said. Bongbong defended Duterte's drug wars and urged the death penalty for drug traffickers. Meanwhile, Duterte controversially gave the late Marcos a hero's burial.
The announcement came as the Marcos family sought to revive its political fortunes. The elder Marcos was overthrown in 1986 after more than two decades in power. His regime was characterized by brutality and kleptocracy. His wife, Immelda, was notorious worldwide for her extensive shoe collection, when she was first lady over 21 years. She previously served as a congresswoman.
Bongbong was born in Manila on September 13, 1957. His father, Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, was the most decorated Filipino hero ofWorld War II and the ninth president of the Philippines from 1966 to 1986. His equally distinguished mother, Imelda Romualdez Marcos, served as the first governor of Metro Manila and Minister of Human Settlements, and is well-remembered as a dynamic patron of Philippine art and culture. After finishing his elementary education in De la Salle College, the young Marcos took his secondary education in the Worth School in England.
From there, he got accepted to Oxford University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Philosophy and Economics in 1978. But as was known both to the US embassy, the media, and some members of the opposition, he actually received a “Special Diploma in Social Studies.” From Oxford, he moved to the Wharton School of Business in the US to obtain his Master’s in Business Administration. That he does not have a bachelor’s degree raises questions about how he was admitted to the Wharton School of Business’s master of business administration program, which he also did not complete. He also earned units in Business Administration at the Wharton School. While still working on his MBA thesis, he had to cut his studies short because he was elected in absentia Vice-Governor of the province of Ilocos Norte in 1981, at a young age of 23. His service also included appointments as Presidential Special Assistant (1978), chairman of the board of the Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (1985), and governor of Ilocos Norte (1983–1986).
But in 1986, after the EDSA Revolution, he was forced to leave the country in exile. While he was away, his thoughts were not far from the country, as he continued to study and develop his skills, with the plan to return to the Philippines in mind. Braving the possibility of arrest from the new regime, Bongbongwas the first of his family to return to the country.
Marcos Jr. has been involved in politics since he returned from exile in the United States in 1991. Despite all the stigmathat he had to endure, in 1992 he was elected to the House of Representatives as representative for the second district of Ilocos Norte. As an opposition congressman, he authored the landmark actestablishing the Philippine Youth Commission. No mention is made of his first failed run for the senate in 1995; it would appear, based on the online narrative, that he had never lost an election.
As Ilocos Norte governor from 1998 to 2007, Bongbong recorded major achievements. He transformed a third-class province into a first-class one (based on income) within his first term. With 73% of the provincial population dependent on agriculture, he raised agricultural productivity in the province by focusing on rice production and cash crops like vegetables and tobacco. He invested resources in hybrid seedlings production that underpinned the agricultural transformation. In 2007, term-limited Governor of Ilocos Norte Province in northern Luzon island Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. backed his cousin, provincial legislator Michael Keon, to replace him as Ilocos Norte governor.
Bongbong instead vied for the second Congressional district seat to be vacated by sister Imee, who decided to take a break from politics. In the mid-term elections of 2007, Bongbong returned to Congress to represent again the second district of Ilocos Norte. In his second stint as legislator and as deputy minority leader, he undertook major initiatives such as the passage of the Philippine Baselines Act, which defines the boundaries of the national territory according to international law, while retaining the country’s claims to lands under dispute with other nations. The adoption of English as the principal language of instruction in the Philippine educational system, and as tool for Filipino competitiveness in education.
Bongbong's ill-fated bid for the vice-presidency in 2016 ended in defeat, which he tried to reverse using the courts. Leni ROBREDO (LP) received 35.1%, Bongbong MARCOS (independent) 34.5%, Alan CAYETANO 14.4%, Francis ESCUDERO (independent) 12%, Antonio TRILLANES (independent) 2.1%, Gregorio HONASAN (UNA) 1.9%. The 2016 elections provided ample evidence that public opinion about the Marcos dictatorship had shifted dramatically. Far from hampered by his exaltation of the authoritarian past as a period of order and discipline, Rodrigo Duterte garnered a landslide victory fueled by a promise to restore state violence to levels unheard of since the Martial Law years. The 2016 elections also saw the narrow defeat of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr for the vice presidency, a result that made clear the Marcos family’s renewed viability as a national political force. Moreover, the rise of both Duterte and Bongbong Marcos was accompanied by the rapid spread of pro-Marcos propaganda on social media, where long-discredited revisionist histories depicting the Marcos years as a “golden age” of progress and prosperity had begun to garner a surprising amount of popular traction. Bongbong Marcos’s narrow defeat for the vice-presidency has put into question popular depictions of Marcos nostalgia as an affliction rife only in “Marcos territory.”
The Marcos record and legacy was hailed for its long-term vision and enduring achievements, such as the modernization of national infrastructure like the Pan-Philippines Highway from Luzon to Mindanao, the launching of innovative programs like the Pag-Ibig Fund and world-class healthcare, the establishment of the Department of Energy to cope with oil price volatility, the protection and enhancement of Philippine ecology and environment, the pioneering program for Philippine tourism development, and the expansion of the country’s foreign relations to include China and Russia.
He is married to lawyer Louise Araneta, by whom he had three sons - Ferdinand Alexander III "Sandro" (born 1994), Joseph Simon (born 1995) and William Vincent "Vince" (born 1997). Although some attribute him as Ilocano, he does not know how to speak the Ilocano language. They make their home in both Metro Manila and Batac, Ilocos Norte.
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