Posted on 05/16/2022 3:01:36 PM PDT by Jyotishi
Pact between Marcos, Duterte families shaped the vote
Bongbong' Marcos didn't just win the presidential election in the Philippines this week. He won it by a two-to-one landslide, despite the fact that he is the extremely entitled son of a former president who stole at least ten billion dollars and a mother who spent the loot partly on the world's most extensive collection of designer shoes (3,000 pairs).
Moreover, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, to give him his real name, has virtually no accomplishments other than that name. Yet his name and his inherited wealth, originally stolen from the parents of the people who voted for him, have enabled him to hold various political offices almost continuously (apart from five years in exile) since he was 23.
Equally deplorable is the electoral triumph of his vice-presidential ally, Sara Duterte, daughter of the mass murderer Rodrigo Duterte. The latter is leaving the presidency at the end of his six-year term, still wildly popular despite the many thousands of extra-judicial killings of alleged 'drug fiends' that he has ordered.
Indeed, those killings are precisely why Rodrigo Duterte is so popular, and his daughter basks in the reflected glory of his violence. A lot of Filipinos adore politicians and other prominent people who are loud, rude and macho - but it's more complicated than that. Sometimes they elect murderers and thieves; sometimes they elect apprentice saints.
The senior Ferdinand Marcos was legitimately elected president in 1965 but declared martial law when he was nearing the end of his second term in 1972. Martial law lasted for another fourteen years, with Marcos's henchmen dividing their time between stealing public funds and torturing or killing perceived opponents.
After that first President Marcos ran the country's economy into the ground, he was ousted in 1986 in the first of the 'people power' non-violent revolutions. The saintly Cory Aquino, whose husband had been assassinated on Marcos's orders, was elected to the presidency, while everybody applauded the Philippines' restored democracy.
But in 1998 the Filipinos elected Joseph 'Erap' Estrada, a former movie star famed for playing the villain, in another landslide.
After the fall of Estrada there were two modestly competent and non-criminal presidents - and then, in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte. Another landslide, of course, and if Duterte stole a lot in the past six years it has not yet been exposed, but he killed even more people than Marcos Senior.
The Philippines is a leading contender for the title of 'world's most populist country', which is hard to explain because its lost twin behaves in a quite different way. Just to the west of the Philippines is Indonesia, another country of many islands whose people are ethnically and linguistically very close to the Filipinos.
Per capita income is about 30% higher in Indonesia, mainly because of oil, but the economies are basically quite similar. Both countries lived for decades under murderous dictators, and both finally overthrew them in non-violent revolutions, the Philippines in 1986, Indonesia in 1998.
However, since Indonesia became a democracy it has elected only presidents who were neither killers nor thieves, while the Filipinos hurl themselves enthusiastically at any plausible fraud who gains a bit of notoriety. Why?
Two hypotheses, both weak, come to mind. First, the Philippines has an unusually powerful elite of big, rich families with strong regional bases. This week's vote, for example, was shaped by a recent alliance between the Marcos family (northern and central Philippines) and the Duterte family (southern Philippines).
The other hypothesis? Ninety-nine percent of adult Filipinos are online, and Filipinos aged 16 to 64 spend on average nearly four hours a day connected to social networks.
(Gwynne Dyer's new book is 'The Shortest History of War'. The views expressed are personal.)
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RE: The latter is leaving the presidency at the end of his six-year term, still wildly popular despite the many thousands of extra-judicial killings of alleged ‘drug fiends’ that he has ordered.
Well, what to say? Duterte’s extra-juducial killings of alleged “drug fiends” is EXACTLY what made him popular. Drugs are a MAJOR problem in the Philippines killing and addicting millions of people. People wanted someone to do something come hell or high water.
Unfortunately, many of those executed were either low level dealers or simply addicts. We will never know the details because none of these cases have been examined in a court of law.
Most have no close connection with those in power who could advocate for them.
A lot of the powerful drug lords with money and connections are still loose and plying their trade. I know the name of at least one rich guy from the city of Cebu ( the Philippines’ second largest city) who has never been arrested or convicted.
Once in a while, a corrupt mayor of a small town will be arrested and made an example to show that Duterte is trying to solve the problem and most would signal their approval.
The educated and upper middle class as well as clergy concentrated in the major cities mostly supported Marco’s main opponent— Leni Robredo.
However, the masses and undereducated common workers which comprised the vast majority of voters believed in the promises of Marcos and wanted a continuation of Duterte’s policies, which they see as being fulfilled in his daughter who will be the VP.
whats wrong with our country?.....fundamentally, its the people...they have become shallow, empty, material driven, sex obsessed, unread and unwise....
I can’t do Balut, but my wife and family love that stuff. They all voted for Marcos too, even though I said I didn’t think that was a good choice. 👎
Mark?
Ignore my ping, as you be here already.
“ Indonesia is an Islamic craphole.”
It’s especially obvious when you get to one of the small Christian enclaves. I went to one in Sulawesi, and it was clean, organized and peaceful. The people were happy and healthy and friendly.
On the other hand, a Japanese friend of my wife went to Aceh to do some research, and she found the people there deserved their reputation for being violent jihadis.
For the record, my wife is from Mindanao, so she’s a fan of Duterte. Nevertheless, this time around, her family voted for Manny Pacquiao, the famous boxer who was in the race.
Yeah, I know . . . a beautiful nation now in the hands of the offspring of two murderers.
I don't understand Filipino's rejection of him.
it’s already scripted.
My in laws are Robredo backers. They knew the votes were stolen.
It’s already planned that Duterte will take over Marcos after his term is over. They have a damn law that mandates NO POLITICAL FAMILIES ca be voted on multiple times..but not enforced.
It’s like a law stating that a Clinton, bush or obama can only be president once. But who enforces it?
It is said there are 250 families who rule the RP. Then there are 5 who “reallY” rule the country from the Ayala, Conjuancgo’s etc. who literally sold their countrymen to the Japs just to save their wealth.
The stupid thing is that the youth voted for Marcos they believed that IF they voted for him, they would go back to the same 1970’s era where the US$ WAS AT PAR WITH THE PESO.
and yet everypone knows Bongbong KNEW his family still has BILLIONS OF US dollars unaccounted for.
That’s how stupid Filipinos are. That’s why it will be a third world sh*thole for decades more.
I watched the debates, and was translated by my in-laws. ..
Manny is hard to understand when speaking and couldnt get his message across. That was frustrating because everyone knows he loves his country AND he used his OWN MONEY (like Trump) to finance his campaign.
It was better if he ran as VP with Robredo. Then stop Duterte 5 yrs. from now.
I go to the RP 2x normally in a year (my brother is married to a Filipina). They’re corrupt alright. You can BUY ANYTHING with money.
I’ve been there. My Filipina sis in law was there in 1986 when they stormed the Palace. She says 100% it is MORE than what is being displayed now. A lot of people were just taking shoes left and right..
Not so different from Biden, except the big money came after he got into politics (and unfortunately nobody was ever able to exile him).
We're not really in a position to cast stones right now.
Thanks . . I appreciate that.
I don't know how true it is, but I've read reports on the internet leading up to the election that supposedly Marcos was the most "China Friendly" of all the presidential candidates. If true this is disconcerting because one of the best points of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was his staunch opposition to communism. President Marcos knew how to handle the communists and the NPA.
One of the worst things about Dutarte was his pro-China views. Hopefully Marcos turns out to be more like his father and a lot less like Dutarte. Like him or not, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was a very intelligent man, I would say he was probably a genius. Dutarte seemed to me to be somewhat of an idiot.
Leni was seen as an American puppet supported by the CIA, the rich families, the leftist students and the Franciscatholics. She came across as a snob and she only got her job because her populist husband died in a plane crash so she got the sympathy vote, and thanks to voting machine irregularities won the VP over Marcos.
Here the workers and farmers supported Marcos because they remember his father made the country prosperous before the communists got aggressive and he started shooting innocent people.
Marcos is backed by some Evangelicals, many in the business community, and most of the working class in our area...
As for Dutertes drug killings...those crying over them ignored people killed by drug addicted robbers or violent attacks when someone high on shabu killed a family member or girlfriend. Also in the statistics are payback murders where families couldn't get justice.
Statistically crime went down and the murder rate only went up bit. My daughter in law says she now feels safe traveling on buses or walking the streets in Manila.
What does your wife say about that? Does she agree with your opinion?
She stays as up to date as she can and remembers a lot (we just voted in our Primary yesterday and we compared notes afterwards . . . She told me she voted for a guy I had voted for but I don't remember telling her I think JD would be the best candidate)
It will be interesting to watch what happens henceforth
My outlaws all voted for Bong Bong in spite of my recommendation to vote for Manny.
Your comment about he not being able to communicate effectively answers a lot of cloudy areas for me.
I’m not the one who made that comment.
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