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From pariah to president: Marcos Jr takes over Philippines' top job
Marcos Jr, known by his nickname "Bongbong", will succeed Rodrigo Duterte in the top job on Thursday after his landslide victory in last month's elections.
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Supporters of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and his running mate Sara Duterte, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, wave flags during a campaign rally in Paranaque City, suburban Manila on May 7, 2022, days ahead of the May 9 presidential election. (AFP/Ted Aljibe)
F
erdinand Marcos Jr, whose dictator father and namesake plundered and brutalised the Philippines, has reached the end of a decades-long campaign to rehabilitate the family brand: the presidency.
Marcos Jr, known by his nickname "Bongbong", will succeed Rodrigo Duterte in the top job on Thursday after his landslide victory in last month's elections.
His win followed relentless whitewashing of the family's past and leveraging of alliances with rival families that control large swathes of the country.
In the 36 years since a popular uprising toppled the patriarch and chased the family into US exile, the Marcoses have been rebuilding their political fortunes.
Despite his own father's concerns about his "carefree and lazy" nature, Marcos Jr, 64, made it to the ultimate post.
After narrowly losing the vice-presidential race to Leni Robredo in the 2016 election, he was determined their rematch in the presidential contest on May 9 would end differently.
Vowing to unify the country, Marcos Jr made sweeping promises on the campaign trail to boost jobs and tackle rising prices in the lower-middle-income country.
