Ferdinand Marcos Jr takes oath as Philippine president

Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the namesake son of an ousted dictator, is sworn in as new president, in one of the greatest political comebacks in the country's recent history.

Marcos Jr inherits decades-old Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime, gaping inequality and political divisions inflamed by his election.
Reuters

Marcos Jr inherits decades-old Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime, gaping inequality and political divisions inflamed by his election.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr has been sworn in as Philippine president, completing a decades-long effort to restore the clan to the country's highest office.

Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of the country's late dictator, took his oath in front of hundreds of local and foreign dignitaries as well as journalists and supporters at the National Museum in Manila on Thursday.

Thousands of police officers, including anti-riot contingents, SWAT commandos and snipers, were deployed in the bayside tourist district for security.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and US Vice President Kamala Harris's husband, Doug Emhoff, were among foreign dignitaries attending.

He praised his dictator father's rule of the archipelago nation, after succeeding Rodrigo Duterte as the country's new leader.

"I once knew a man who saw how little had been achieved since independence. He got it done," Marcos Jr said after being sworn into office.

"So will it be with his son. You will get no excuses from me."

'A nightmare'

His rise to power, 36 years after an army-backed "People Power" revolt booted his father to global infamy, upends politics in the Asian democracy, where a public holiday, monuments and the Philippine Constitution stand as reminders of his father's tyrannical rule.

Activists and survivors of the martial law-era under his father protested Marcos Jr's inauguration. 

"Wow is this really happening?" asked Bonifacio Ilagan, a 70-year-old activist who was detained and severely tortured by counterinsurgency forces during the elder Marcos's rule, before the inauguration. 

"For victims of martial law like me, this is a nightmare."

Difficult times

Such historical baggage and antagonism stand to hound Marcos Jr during a six-year presidency beginning at a time of intense crises.

The Philippines has been among the worst-hit countries in Asia by the two-year coronavirus pandemic, after more than 60,000 deaths and extended lockdowns sent the economy to its worst recession since World War II and worsened poverty, unemployment and hunger. 

As the pandemic was easing early this year, Russia's attack on Ukraine sent global inflation soaring and sparked fears of food shortages.

Last week, Marcos Jr announced he would serve as secretary of agriculture temporarily after he takes office to prepare for possible food supply emergencies. 

He also inherits decades-old Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime, gaping inequality and political divisions inflamed by his election.

Congress last month proclaimed his landslide victory, as well as that of his running mate Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing president, in the vice-presidential race.

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