MANILA, May 9 (Reuters) – Ferdinand Marcos Jr was given the clear lead in the Philippines presidential election on Monday with around two-thirds of the vote, a provisional tally showed.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, whose father ruled the country for 20 years until his fall in 1986, is currently credited with 21.7 million votes, more than double his rival Leni Robredo, according to data. of the Electoral Commission (Comelec).
Lawyer specializing in the defense of human rights, Leni Robredo had narrowly beaten him for the election to the vice-presidency in 2016.
This considerable advance suggests a return to power, once unthinkable, of the Marcos family 36 years after the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos, who then went into exile with his relatives.
Despite this disgrace, the Marcos family returned to the Philippines in the 1990s and once again became a powerful political force relying on their wealth and networks.
A former senator, Ferdinand Marcos Jr has no real political program but he should follow in the footsteps of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, whose popularity was built on an assumed authoritarianism.
(Report Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales, written by Martin Petty; French version Kate Entringer)