Philippines election: Bongbong Marcos, the man battling the Dutertes

Philippines election: Bongbong Marcos, the man battling the Dutertes
Oh Ewe

BBC News

Getty Images Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos shows his inked finger after voting in the mid-term election at a polling station in Batac town, Ilocos Norte province on May 12, 2025.Getty Images

Ferdinand Marcos, the late president of the Philippines, is gearing up for a conflict that may determine his social potential.

The midterm elections on Monday are essentially a battle between Marcos and his vice president, Rodrigo Duterte’s girl.

The couple, who each reflect the most powerful people in the country, unified in their vote of 2022, but their alliance has since broken.

They are currently battling for control of the senate, which may offer Marcos the authority to remove Sara from office and protect Sara from such action.

It’s a check for Marcos, the 67-year-old son of an ousted despot who rebranded his father’s troubled era to make a remarkable comeback in the 2022 vote.

Destined for administration

When his father became leader, Bongbong was only eight years old when he was born in 1957 to Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. The only natural boy was the second of three. After that, the few made a child.

While his family was a performer and former beauty pageant success, Bongbong’s parents, a former prosecutor, served in the Congress and Senate. Both families would gain popularity because they became associated with excess and problem as the family amassed massive wealth under a terrible regime.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr enjoyed a decent following during his first term, which spanned 1965 to 1969, and won a re-election by a disaster. However, he declared martial law in 1972, one month before his second expression was set to end.

More than a decade of tyranny followed, during which the country’s foreign debt rose, prices rose, and common Filipinos struggled to make ends meet. Additionally, there was a time of persecution, when opposition figures and detractors were imprisoned, disappeared, or killed.

Marcos Sr was training his brother for leadership throughout.

A photograph of Bongbong, who wore a gold crown and a white horse, hangs in his youth home in llocos Norte, the mother’s stronghold in the north, which is now a gallery.

However, the elder Marcos was likewise concerned about whether his brother would take on the position. ” Bongbong is our main care,” according to a journal access from 1972. He is very obedient and lazy.

Getty Images Marcos Sr, wearing a white long-sleeved button-up shirt and black pants, raises his fist as he speaks into a microphone while standing on a balcony. Behind him is his family. Standing beside him is a young Bongbong Marcos, who is dressed in dark green overalls and putting one hand on the balcony railing.Getty Images

Marcos attended Oxford University to study philosophy, elections, and economy, but it eventually became clear that he did not, as he claimed, have earned a bachelor’s degree.

Oxford claimed in 2021 that he received a special certification in social experiments in 1978. According to local media reports, that was the result of Asian diplomats ‘ campaigning in the UK following Marcos Jr.’s failing tests.

He left for elections and became the vice-governor of Ilocos Norte before becoming the government.

However, a trend in 1986 may have ended his political career that his parents had planned for him.

Although an economic crisis had now caused unrest, the death of a popular opposition leader had smacked tens of thousands of people onto the streets.

A significant portion of the army was eventually persuaded to remove its support for the Marcos government, which expedited its death.

Getty Images Rows of colourful high heeled shoes being displayed behind clear glass cabinetsGetty Images

The home emigrated to Hawaii with whatever goods they may bring, but they still had enough evidence to show how beautiful life they had led.

The now-infamous 3, 000 pair of designer boots owned by Imelda Marcos were discovered by demonstrators who stormed the presidential palace, which contained imaginative oil photos of the home, a tub with gold-plated accessories, and the now-infamous Imelda Marcos.

While in power, the family is accused of plundering an estimated$ 10 billion in public funds. His name was already tarnished by the time Marcos Sr. passed away in captivity in 1989.

His child was able to paint that previous enough to win the presidency, some thirty years later.

assuming office of president

After moving back to the Philippines in the 1990s, Marcos worked as a provincial government, representative, and lawmaker before winning the presidential election in 2022.

Social internet was a significant component of this restructuring, helping Marcos gain new followers, particularly among the younger generation in a nation where the median time is around 25.

The Marcos home tradition has been revised on Facebook, with advertising posts claiming that Marcos Sr’s rule was really a “golden interval” for the nation.

A military law anthem from the Marcos Sr time was the music to a pretty concern for Gen Z users on TikTok, where they would record older community members marching to the beat.

With Sara Duterte running for vice-president as his reputation increased, Marcos launched his political campaign. She vowed to collaborate with Bongbong to bring the nation together and bring it “rise afterwards.”

They combined the two families ‘ strong foundations, the Marcos’s in the north and the Dutertes’ in the south, under the name “uniTeam.”

Getty Images Former first lady Imelda Marcos (2nd L) holds hands with her son, the new Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (2nd R), as they stand with family members after he took his oath of office, during the inauguration ceremony at the National Museum in Manila on June 30, 2022. Getty Images

It was successful. More than twice as many seats did Marcos receive as his closest rival, with a thumping 31 million.

As success came to light, Marcos said,” Judge me not by my predecessors, but by my activities,” vowing to “be a senator for all Filipinos.”

Three times into his presidency, Marcos has aided Manila’s relationship with the US and has increasingly faced a forceful China in the South China Sea, a significant departure from Duterte’s.

Not just that, which caused a tangle between him and Sara Duterte, which gradually turned into an ugly, open spit.

She had boldly sought the more powerful Army collection, but he gave her the Education investment. He started a court case against her for the alleged use of state money. Therefore, in” jokes,” Sara Duterte claimed that she hired assassins to eliminate Marcos, and that he paved the way for her dad to be detained and taken to the Hague for his part in a bloody war on drugs, which resulted in the death of thousands.

The lower apartment has approved Sara Duterte’s prosecution, which will now have to be argued in the senate, making the senatorial elections on Monday potentially decisive decisions.

Whatever happens, these former friends ‘ conflict won’t stop on Saturday.

Will the Marcos ‘ ability to outsmart the Dutertes remain to be seen.