Marcos presidency and the challenges to journalists and educators in the Philippines

Abstract

Around 31 million Filipinos voted for Ferdinand Marcos Jr as the 17th president of the Philippines on 9 May 2022. Ferdinand Marcos Jr is the namesake and son of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos whose family plundered and left the Philippines almost bankrupt when they were in power from 1965 to 1986. He won against former Philippine vice president Leonor “Leni” Robredo who only got around 15 million votes. Robredo is a human rights lawyer and an economist. She was a congressional district representative of Camarines Sur (3rd District) before serving as a vice president. Marcos Jr, on the other hand, was governor of Ilocos Norte from 1998 to 2007, congressional district representative of Ilocos Norte (2nd District) from 2007 to 2010, and senator from 2010 to 2016. He ran for vice president in 2016 but lost to Robredo. The landslide victory of Marcos Jr is not surprising. He promised to continue the legacy of his father who imposed Martial Law from 1972 to 1986. But what legacy does he promise? During the election campaign period, Marcos Jr did not clearly explain his plans for economic recovery and social services. Instead, he kept on calling for "unity." His supporters claim that he can help the poor by reducing the prices of commodities such as rice to as low as PhP20 per kilo from the current PhP37 per kilo. The Philippine election system has been ruled by the so-called 3 Gs – guns, goons, and gold. Perhaps it is timely to add another factor – social media. The Filipino people merely ousted the Marcos family from Malaca~ nan Palace on 25 February 1986 during a people’s uprising popularly called the People Power Revolution. While it resulted in the assumption into office of Corazon Aquino, widow of then opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr, there are no qualitative changes in the Philippine political landscape. The 1987 Constitution did not declare that the dictator’s family would not have an opportunity to return. There was no clear provision prohibiting the rise of political dynasty or electing a person despite facing plunder cases or being convicted of crimes. From 1987 onwards, the Philippines further became a breeding ground for political dynasties and convicted politicians. After being ousted, Marcos and his family just spent time in Hawai’i with the help of the United States government, aware that they would return sooner or later. It