Ferdinand Marcos Jr wins Philippines’ presidential elections

With over 98% of the votes counted, Ferdinand Marcos Jr is on track to win the Philippines Presidential elections, having secured more than double the votes of his opponent Leni Robredo.

Securing over 31 million votes in this year’s elections, Ferdinand Marcos has defeated his liberal rival Leni Robredo and is on track to become Philippine’s next President.

An official result is likely to release by the end of this month.

However, Marcos’ victory does not come without controversy. About 400 people, mostly comprised of students, protested outside the election commission on 10th May against election irregularities.

Yet, the Election Commission has upheld its dismissal of complaints filed against Marcos on the basis of his 1995 tax evasion conviction.

On 11th May, Marcos met his supporters outside his headquarters in Mandaluyong City prior to attending a meeting to decide upon the formation of his transition team as well as the cabinet.

Additionally, he has asked the public to refrain from building perceptions of him on the basis of his familial past.

This is owed to the fact that Marcos’ father was a dictator whose regime lasted for approximately two decades before he was ousted from power by the ‘people power revolution’ in 1986.

In order to present this dictatorship in a positive light, the Marcos family launched a social media campaign that referred to this period as a ‘golden era’; even though, he is known to have led a corrupt regime and a brutal crackdown on dissidents.

Still, the new generation of voters, being aged between 18-40 years, found great appeal in this campaign.