The son of a brutal dictator could be the next president of the Philippines, succeeding strongman President Rodrigo Duterte.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. secured a commanding lead in the Philippines’ presidential race Monday, according to preliminary results, setting the stage for Marcos—whose father was an authoritarian ruler until his 1986 ouster—to replace strongman President Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos’ running mate is also the child of a president: Duterte’s daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio is currently leading in the race for vice president, according to ABS-CBN (in the Philippines, presidential and vice-presidential candidates run for office separately). Marcos’ impending victory follows years of efforts to rehabilitate his family’s image. His father Ferdinand Marcos was elected to the presidency in 1965 and remained in office for 21 years, much of it under a martial law regime that was tied to thousands of arrests, disappearances and killings according to Amnesty International.
