Dictator’s son on cusp of winning landslide in Philippines elections

Marcos Jr has about 30 million votes compared to his closest rival, the outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, who has about 14 million votes, according to a partial and unofficial tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Marcos Jr is the son and namesake of former authoritarian leader Ferdinand Marcos Sr, whose 21-year rule was marked by human rights abuses and plunder of the state coffers.Marcos Jr thanked his supporters for their belief in him in a speech late on Monday.”Even though the counting is not over yet, I cannot wait to thank all of you… to those who helped, to those who joined our fight, to those who sacrificed,” he said.During campaigning, Marcos Jr ran on a platform of “unity” and has promised more jobs, lower prices, and more investment in agriculture and infrastructure. Political analysts say Marcos Jr appeals to Filipinos tired of the political bickering and promises of progress and economic reform from successive administrations that many feel have failed to benefit ordinary people.Opinion polls had him as leading by more than 30 percentage points in the run up to Monday’s vote. Marcos Jr’s running mate for vice president is Sara Duterte Carpio, the daughter of populist outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte, and their supporters see them as continuing his controversial “war on drugs.” Partial and unofficial results show Duterte Carpio is also leading the race for the vice presidency. The vice president is elected separately from the president in the Philippines.Robredo, who throughout campaigning positioned herself as promoting good governance, transparency and human rights, told her supporters on Monday, “we are not yet done, we are just starting.””We started something that was never witnessed before in the country’s entire history: a campaign led by people,” she said, Marcos Jr was 29 when his family were chased into exile in Hawaii following a People Power revolution that toppled his father’s regime in 1986. Marcos Sr died in exile three years later, but his family returned in 1991 and became wealthy, influential politicians, with successive family members representing their dynastic stronghold of Ilocos Norte.Journalist Maria Ressa, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and president and chief executive of local media outlet Rappler, told CNN a Marcos win shows “not just Filipinos but the world, the impact of disinformation on a democracy.””He will determine the future of this country but simultaneously its past.”Marcos Jr looks set to replace President Duterte, known internationally for cracking down on civil society and the media and a bloody war on drugs that according to police has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people. Despite his record on human rights and the Covid-19 pandemic, which made the country’s hunger crisis worse, Duterte remains hugely popular domestically.The election also has ramifications beyond the country’s borders. With China and the US increasingly treating the Indo-Pacific as a staging ground for their global showdown, the Philippines will likely come under growing economic and geopolitical pressure, particularly as its territorial claims in the South China Sea overlap with those of Beijing.Analysts say there is an opportunity for a reset of the Philippines’ relationships with both major powers — and the outcome of the vote could shift the balance of power in Asia.CNN’s Yasmin Coles and Simone McCarthy contributed reporting.