HENRY SREBRNIK: Philippines election: Back to the Future – Saltwire

HENRY SREBRNIK Guest Opinion

Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Waves seem to move through an ocean, yet the water always returns to its rest position, since the particles really travel in circles. So its a type of optical illusion.

This is an apt metaphor for politics in the Philippines, now that a Marcos is back in power.

Filipinos are a Malay people who have a political culture unique to southeast Asia. Other than in the southern island of Mindanao, where there is a Muslim population, the vast majority are Roman Catholics.

Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines, the country named for King Philip II of Spain, began in 1565, with the arrival of an expedition from Mexico. It also saw the introduction of Christianity.

The Philippines was ruled under the Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New Spain, a vital link between Spains American empire and its Asian and South Pacific possessions, until Mexico became independent in 1821. After that, the colony was directly governed by Spain.

Because it was under Spanish rule for 333 years, the Philippines has many affinities with Latin America, including its political culture.

The archipelago became an American possession after the 1898 Spanish-American War and was under U.S. tutelage for a further 48 years, until granted independence in 1946. This added a veneer of democracy to its political structures.

The country was wracked by political turmoil in the last quarter of the 20th century. After enduring more than a decade of authoritarian rule under President Ferdinand Marcos, the People Power movement in 1986 led a bloodless uprising against his regime.

Marcos had declared martial law in 1972 and took control of the countrys courts, businesses and media. The army and police arrested and tortured thousands of dissidents. The years that followed were one of the darkest periods in the nations history, with widespread human rights abuses.

Marcos, his wife Imelda, and his cronies plundered an estimated $10 billion from public funds while millions of people lived in extreme poverty. They fled to Hawaii where Ferdinand Marcos died in exile three years later.

The 1986 uprising resulted not only in the ouster of Marcos but also in the restoration of democratic government to the Philippines. However, it remained a shaky superstructure.

Whats past is prologue, because the country has again seen rule by autocratic politicians since the election that brought Rodrigo Duterte to power in 2016. He ran on a populist platform and implemented a so-called War on Drugs that led to thousands of extra-legal deaths.

Duterte is facing an International Criminal Court investigation into crimes against humanity. Despite this, he retained the support of many in the Philippines, who see him as the man who tackled street crime and stood up to the countrys rich oligarchs.

Due to term limits, Duterte retired last year, and the 2022 presidential election saw Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, son of the late dictator, win the presidency in a landslide.

He gained more than 30.8 million votes, good for more than 66 per cent, in the May 9 balloting. Leni Robredo, the incumbent vice-president under Duterte, came a very distant second, with 25 per cent.

The young Marcos previously served in the Philippines House of Representatives and as governor of the familys stronghold in the province of Ilocos Norte. He unsuccessfully ran for vice president in 2016.

His 2022 running mate, Sara Duterte, who is the new vice-president, is the daughter of outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte.

Rodrigo Duterte is close to the Marcos family and had Ferdinand Marcos buried in the countrys Heroes Cemetery when he took office. The families came together prior to the 2022 election and began a social media campaign to rebrand the old Marcos era as a golden age of crime-free prosperity.

By staying away from all the presidential debates and refusing media interviews, Marcos also avoided having his familys record challenged.

The pro-Marcos propaganda campaign also benefited from widespread public disappointment over the failure of the post-1986 administrations to bring significant improvements to the lives of poorer Filipinos.

Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions, Marcos said in a statement following his victory. But it is a blow to those in the Philippines who have campaigned for accountability over the abuses of the old Marcos era.

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HENRY SREBRNIK: Philippines election: Back to the Future - Saltwire