Presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator, waves after casting his vote in the 2022 national elections at Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School in Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 9, 2022.
Eloisa Lopez | Reuters
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday retained his wide lead in the tally of votes in the Philippines presidential election with 61% of eligible ballots counted, unofficial data from the poll body showed.
Marcos, the son and namesake of the notorious late dictator who ruled the country for 20 years, had 20 million votes, more than double the 9.49 million of rival Vice President Leni Robredo, according to a live unofficial count by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
The big early lead raises the prospect of a once-unthinkable return to the rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its patriarch’s overthrow in a “people power” revolution and his family’s humiliating retreat into exile.
It closely tracks the outcome of all opinion polls this year, which showed Marcos, a former senator and congressman, with a huge advantage over Robredo, who is allied with the movement that toppled the Marcos dictatorship in 1986.
Despite its fall from grace, the Marcos family returned from exile in the 1990s and has since been a powerful force in politics, retaining its influence with vast wealth and far-reaching connections.
The vote was also a chance for Marcos to avenge his loss to Robredo in the 2016 vice presidential election, a narrow defeat by just 200,000 votes that he sought unsuccessfully to overturn.
Marcos has presented no real policy platform but his presidency is expected to provide continuity with outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte, whose ruthless, strongman approach proved popular and helped him to consolidate power rapidly.