Politics

Duterte’s party supports Marcos’ son in the presidential elections

Manila, March 22 (EFE).- The PDP-Laban party, to which Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, belongs, announced Tuesday its support for the candidacy of “Bongbong” Marcos, son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, for the upcoming May 9 elections.

“Senator ‘Bongbong’ Marcos is the candidate whose platform is most aligned with the program of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (…) he is the chosen candidate, since his vision of government is aligned with the agenda of the PDP-Laban party,” party President Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.

The support of the PDP-Laban for Marcos contradicts the reason for its birth as a political organization in 1982, since it was founded by a group of opponents of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, overthrown in 1986 before dying in exile in Hawaii three years later.

Duterte has not yet declared himself in favor of any presidential candidate, but has shown his support for his daughter, Sara Duterte, as the country’s vice-presidential candidate in a separate vote from the presidential one.

Sara Duterte forms a tandem with Marcos, by running for the same party, which caused the initial anger of the current Philippine president, who wanted an independent candidacy so his daughter would fight to succeed him as head of state.

Marcos is one of the most experienced candidates in Philippine politics. His candidacy has been undermined by complaints that consider him unsuitable for the position having been convicted of tax evasion. He leads intention polls with 55 percent of support, according to the Pulse Asia Research firm.

The fortune stolen from the coffers of the country by his father, valued at USD 10 billion, and the harsh repression during the dictatorship, do not seem to make a dent in the options of “Bongbong” Marcos, driven by a large propaganda machine on social networks .

He is followed from afar by current Vice President Leni Robredo, the only woman candidate, with 21 percent of support and who tries to show herself as an icon of resistance against outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte and his violent war on drugs.

Robredo and “Bongbong” Marcos already faced each other in the 2016 elections, when both were candidates for the vice presidency and in which Robredo won narrowly. EFE

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