Rodrigo Duterte’s successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was sworn in as Philippine president during a ceremony in Manila.
With his inauguration, the Marcos political dynasty, which was overthrown in 1986 as a result of a public uprising, makes an astounding comeback.
Last month, Mr. Marcos Jr., also known as Bong Bong, won with a resounding victory.
The vice-presidential oath of office is being administered to Sara Duterte, daughter of the outgoing president
At noon local time (0400 GMT), Mr. Marcos Jr. took the oath of office in a ceremonial event at the National Museum. He was greeted by President Duterte earlier at the Malacanang presidential palace. President Duterte was dressed in a formal white shirt, undone at the neck and with the sleeves pulled up.
For the occasion, 15,000 security officers have been stationed across the Philippine capital.
The newly elected president was inaugurated just a few days after the Supreme Court of Manila decided that his conviction for tax fraud did not exclude him from holding office.
The 64-year-old leader inherits a nation still struggling to recover from an epidemic that lasted years, as well as an uncertain economic future due to soaring inflation and mounting debt.
Critics claim that despite his broad commitments to increase employment and combat increasing prices, there has been little discussion of substantive policy reform.
In the wake of Mr. Duterte’s presidency, which has been marked by a violent war on drugs policies and a stricter grip on media freedom, several are looking to Mr. Marcos Jr. to repair the country’s reputation.
However, a day before Rodrigo Duterte took office, a Philippine regulatory body declared it was sticking by its decision to shut down the investigative news website Rappler, one of the few publications there that is critical of his administration.
The inauguration of Mr. Marcos Jr. represents the conclusion of the Marcoses’ protracted battle to recover their former political prominence.
From 1965 until 1986, during the leadership of his father Ferdinand, the nation was under martial control, there were numerous human rights violations, there was rampant corruption, and there was extreme poverty.
Millions of people took to the streets in a major rebellion that ended in 1986, and the Marcos household, including a 28-year-old named Bongbong, fled the nation for Hawaii.
The veteran politician, who moved back to the Philippines in 1991, has tried to portray his father’s administration as a “golden era” of development and wealth.
Mr Marcos Jr’s popularity was buoyed by an aggressive social media drive, which proved especially appealing to voters not old enough to have experienced the years of dictatorship first-hand.
Meanwhile, critics levelled accusations that his social media campaign was rife with misinformation and whitewashed atrocities under his father’s rule. He has denied these allegations.
His election campaign was also boosted by having Sara Duterte as his running mate, merging two political dynasties’ strongholds – the Marcoses in northern Philippines and the Dutertes in the southern Mindanao island.
Image credits: reuters
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