MANILA: Ferdinand Marcos Jr has reached the end of a decades-long campaign to rehabilitate the family brand: the presidency.
Marcos Jr, known by his nickname “Bongbong,” will succeed Rodrigo Duterte in the top job on Thursday after his landslide victory in last month’s elections.
In the 36 years since a popular uprising toppled the patriarch and chased the family into US exile, the Marcoses have been rebuilding their political fortunes.
After narrowly losing the vice presidential race to Leni Robredo in the 2016 election, he was determined their rematch in the presidential contest on May 9 would end differently.
Vowing to unify the country, Marcos Jr made sweeping promises on the campaign trail to boost jobs and tackle rising prices in the lower-middle-income country.
Marcos said last month he was “humbled” by his success at the ballot box and vowed to “always strive to perfection.”
“I want to do well, because when a president does well the country does well, and I want to do well for this country,” he told reporters after Congress formally ratified the results.
Growing up in the presidential palace in Manila, Marcos Jr wanted to be an astronaut before he followed his father’s footsteps into politics.
He served as vice governor and twice as governor of the family’s northern stronghold of Ilocos Norte province, and also had stints in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
His 92-year-old mother, Imelda, said she had dreamed of him becoming the country’s leader.
Marcos Jr’s links to his father, whose rule was marked by the bloody repression of the martial law years, have made him one of the nation’s most polarizing politicians.
He has benefited from a deluge of misinformation on social media targeting a largely young electorate with no memory of the corruption, killings and other abuses committed during the elder Marcos’s 20-year rule.
His campaign was bolstered by teaming up with Sara Duterte — who won even more votes than Marcos to easily secure the vice presidency — as well as the backing of other political elites.
While he describes his father as a “political genius,” Marcos Jr has distanced himself from the charges of pillaging state coffers and economic mismanagement that later impoverished the nation.
“To the world, he says: Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions,” Vic Rodriguez, a close aide, said in a statement after Marcos Jr claimed victory.
After the fallen dictator’s death in Hawaii in 1989, the Marcoses returned home and began their remarkable revival, getting elected to a succession of higher positions.
The family’s turnaround has been aided by public disenchantment over an enduring gulf between rich and poor, and graft allegations that marred post-Marcos administrations.
From pariah to president: Marcos Jr takes over Philippines’ top job
https://arab.news/4dcsq
From pariah to president: Marcos Jr takes over Philippines’ top job
- His campaign was bolstered by teaming up with Sara Duterte as well as the backing of other political elites
Prominent figures, doctors urge restoration of medical care in Gaza
- Letter will be presented to UK, EU leaders
LONDON: Dozens of prominent figures, including Cynthia Nixon, Mark Ruffalo and Ilana Glazer, have joined doctors, human rights leaders and humanitarian organizations in calling for the immediate restoration of medical care in Gaza, in a letter addressed to Israel and world leaders.
“Israel’s systematic attacks on hospitals and unlawful blockade have collapsed Gaza’s healthcare system,” the letter says.
“Through its policies and military activities the government of Israel has deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, and then denied the very help that could save them.”
The letter, shared with The Guardian, will be presented to UK and EU leaders this week and calls for the “immediate, unconditional, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access into Palestine,” including the entry of medical and humanitarian personnel.
The first signatory was Wesam Hamada, the mother of 5-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli fire in January 2024 while waiting for Palestinian paramedics whose ambulance was shelled as it tried to reach her.
Her story is told in Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-shortlisted film “The Voice of Hind Rajab.”
Ben Hania said: “Hind Rajab did not die because help was impossible, but because it was denied.”
Human rights groups, including B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, have also signed the letter, along with figures such as Brian Eno and Rosie O’Donnell.
The UN Human Rights Office estimates that 94 percent of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed since the conflict began in 2023, and at least 1,722 healthcare workers have been killed.
Many medical items, including wheelchairs and walkers, have been barred from entering the territory. UN experts have described the attacks on the healthcare sector as “medicide”.
Israel recently banned dozens of aid agencies, including Medecins Sans Frontieres, from working in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, also known as COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls access to Gaza, said “the registration process is intended to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas,” although a US analysis found no evidence of Hamas systematically looting aid convoys.
More than 18,500 Palestinians are awaiting medical evacuation from Gaza, MSF estimated in December, with at least 1,000 people having died while waiting for care.
Dr. Thaer Gazawneh, a Chicago-based emergency physician who has signed the letter, said: “(They) are making the living conditions in Gaza so unbearable that people will be forced to be displaced again.”
Ilana Glazer said: “This call for medical access is urgent because medicine and care is the bare minimum of humanity, and when even that’s blocked, it puts every person on the planet at risk of being treated the same way: subhuman.”
Rajab’s mother said the issue was deeply personal because her daughter had dreamed of becoming a doctor.
Hamada said: “Hind never bought any ordinary toys or dolls like other children. She always chose doctor’s toys: a stethoscope, a plastic syringe, a small first-aid kit. She would treat her dolls, pat them, and promise them that everything would be all right.
“Hind’s dream is no longer to become a doctor, but for the children of Gaza to find a doctor, a hospital, medicine, and safety.”
