Philippines votes for new president in 'most consequential election'

Voting is under way in Philippines to elect a new president, with the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos the favourite to win the high-stakes race and restore his family to the pinnacle of power.

About 65 million Filipinos are eligible to vote to decide on a successor to Duterte after his six years in power.
Reuters

About 65 million Filipinos are eligible to vote to decide on a successor to Duterte after his six years in power.

Filipinos have begun voting for a new president with the son of an ousted dictator and a champion of reforms and human rights as top contenders in a tenuous moment in a deeply divided Asian democracy.

Monday's election pits Vice President Leni Robredo against former senator and congressman Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of a dictator whose 20-year rule ended in a public revolt and his family's humiliating retreat into exile.

Opinion polls put Marcos, popularly known as "Bongbong", leading his rival by over 30 percentage points, having topped every poll this year. That means Robredo will need a late surge or low turnout if she is to win the presidency.

Marcos, 64, has presented no real policy platform but his presidency is expected to provide continuity from outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte, whose ruthless, strongman approach proved popular and helped him to consolidate power rapidly.

Robredo, 57, a former human rights lawyer and staunch liberal, has pledged to improve education and welfare, fight poverty and improve market competition if elected.

Polls opened at 6 am (2200 GMT Sunday) and will close at 7 p.m. (1100 GMT Monday) and an unofficial vote count could give an indication of who is the winner a few hours later.

READ MORE: Battle against disinformation, historical revisionism in Philippine polls

Support for Marcos

Marcos is buoyed by a cult-like following of younger Filipinos born after the 1986 revolution, having launched a massive social media offensive in an upbeat campaign that has carried undertones of historical revisionism.

His supporters and social media influencers have dismissed narratives of plunder, cronyism and brutality under the martial law of his late father as lies peddled by opponents, presenting what his critics say is a different version of history. 

The Marcos camp has denied running misinformation campaigns.

Despite its fall from grace, the Marcos family returned from exile in the 1990s and has since been a powerful force in Philippine politics, retaining its influence with vast wealth and far-reaching connections.

The vote also presents an opportunity for Marcos to avenge his acrimonious loss to Robredo in the 2016 vice presidential election, a narrow defeat by just 200,000 votes that he sought unsuccessfully to overturn.

READ MORE: Philippines 'relatively peaceful' ahead of election - police

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'Most consequential elections'

About 65 million Filipinos are eligible to vote to decide on a successor to Duterte after his six years in power.

Also up for grabs are about 18,000 posts, from seats in the senate and congress to mayors, governors and councillors.

In a commentary, author and political analyst Richard Heydarian said the stakes are higher than any other election in recent years, with Marcos likely to overhaul the constitution to entrench his power if he wins, and Robredo in a position to prevent a "Marcosian hegemony".

"Make no mistake: This is the most consequential elections in contemporary Philippine history," he wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

READ MORE: Is the Philippines on the verge of another Marcos presidency?

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