The Marcos family returns to power in the Philippines 36 years later

The elected president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with his family (his son Sandro; his mother, Imelda Marcos, in blue, and his wife) after being inaugurated president, this Thursday at the National Museum of Manila. TED ALJIBE (AFP)

It seemed that since he returned from exile in 1991, Ferdinand Marcos Júnior had only one mission: to recover the power that his family lost after the peaceful revolution that overthrew the kleptocratic and despotic regime of his parents.

His efforts have finally been crowned this Thursday, when he has been proclaimed the seventeenth president of the Philippines, after sweeping the elections on May 9 after a campaign focused exclusively on "national unity".

In his investiture speech, Ferdinand

Marcos took the opportunity to wink at his father, who ruled the country between 1965 and 1986: “I met a man who saw how little progress had been made since independence in a land whose inhabitants have great potential to achieve what they wanted. propose.

Still, they were poor.

But he managed to reverse the situation.

Sometimes with the necessary support;

others, without it.

So will his son.

There will be no excuses on my part."

After three decades promoting a whitewashed account of the past ―which has sold one of the darkest periods of Southeast Asia as a golden age―, the Marcos are once again the tenants of the Malacañán palace, the same one they fled from in the race in 1986, leaving the country plunged into a deep economic crisis and after having plundered a fortune from public coffers that would be equivalent to almost 25,000 million euros today.

Ferdinand Marcos Júnior, 64, will govern hand in hand with Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of the controversial former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was prevented by the Constitution from running for re-election.

Decked out in a white

(formal shirt) inspired by the military uniform of colonial times, the son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos has been sworn in at a colorful ceremony at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila.

Along with him were his wife, Louise Araneta, and his three children, who frequently appear in the videos that Bongbong

He publishes on social networks and in which he shows his most affable version, far from the luxury and excesses that characterized his parents' marriage.

In her speech, she also had words of gratitude for her mother, known in the Philippines as "the iron butterfly".

Many believe that, since the death of Ferdinand Marcos in Hawaii (USA) in 1989, the 92-year-old former first lady has really been the one who has pulled the strings to boost her son's political career.

A protest poster against the investiture of Ferdinand Marcos Júnior and Sara Duterte-Carpio, this Thursday in Manila. BULLIT MARQUEZ (AFP)

“It is a historic moment.

You have chosen me to serve you, to allow changes that benefit us all.

I am aware of the enormous responsibility that falls on my shoulders.

I don't take it lightly.

I am ready,” assured the new Philippine leader.

Marcos Júnior won the elections with almost 59% of the votes, a resounding victory that had not been achieved in decades.

His nationalist discourse deeply penetrated a sector of nostalgic voters and young people who hope to recover the supposed bonanza that was experienced during the times of his father.

The other great asset for victory was his alliance with Sara Duterte-Carpio, 44, who led all the polls last summer due to rumors of his intention to pick up the baton from his father.

Rodrigo Duterte, despite his bloody “war on drugs” —which has left more than 30,000 dead, according to human rights associations— and his terrible management of the pandemic, has ended his term with high levels of popularity.

His daughter Sara, 43, was sworn in as vice president 11 days ago in Davao, the family fiefdom, where she has served as mayor for six years, thus breaking the tradition of the president and his

being sworn in together on 30 June in Manila.

Those most critical of the new government consider that the tandem formed by the heirs of these two powerful political clans (the Marcoses, in the north; the Dutertes, in the south) will increase the levels of corruption and the privileges of the elites, and that it will continue with the curtailment of freedoms that has occurred under the previous Administration.

One day before Duterte left the head of state, the independent news portal

, co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa and one of the most critical of the outgoing president, announced that it had received a closure order from of the authorities.

Many fear that, with the duo formed by Marcos and Duterte-Carpio, the democratic foundations of the country of 110 million inhabitants will be undermined.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with his wife and son in Manila shortly after the ceremony in which he was inaugurated as President of the Philippines.

Gerard Carreón (AP)

Some analysts believe that what has allowed the image of the Marcos dictatorship to be whitewashed for years has been the lack of debate in schools.

Philippines leads the

worldwide daily use of social networks, according to data from the World Global Index 2021, which makes it an ideal ecosystem for fake news.

During the electoral campaign, the period of Martial Law was drawn as one in which the economy flourished, infrastructures were developed, and in which the nation breathed peace and gained international significance.

Gone are the references to the barbarity denounced by Amnesty International during the regime (3,257 extrajudicial killings, 35,000 cases of torture and 70,000 arbitrary arrests) or to the financial crisis or uncontrolled inflation between the 1960s and 1990s.

Whether or not there is a change in the story will be left to Duterte-Carpio, who will also be responsible for the Education portfolio.

The new Cabinet is made up of familiar allies as well as long-time technocrats.

Marcos Júnior inherits a country that is slowly moving towards recovery after the worst of the pandemic, amid an economic outlook clouded by rampant inflation and with a national debt amounting to 231,000 million dollars (220,000 million euros), almost the 63% of GDP.

Experts believe that the new government will bet on continuing with the infrastructure investment launched by Duterte, as well as with his fiscal policies.

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