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In any other case, there may be nothing to applaud within the final result — which propels to energy the son and namesake of a dictator Filipinos overthrew in 1986. Mr. Marcos’s vote was roughly double the share that runner-up Leni Robredo, a stalwart of the liberal opposition to Mr. Duterte, acquired. He acquired it by working on obscure guarantees to revive the purportedly good outdated days of his father’s regime. Actually, the Marcos years had been a interval of rampant graft and martial regulation.
Mr. Duterte’s reign introduced new abuses, beginning along with his horrific marketing campaign of police homicide — within the title of crushing drug site visitors — that took 1000’s of lives. Amongst many acts of repression in opposition to reputable opposition, maybe essentially the most troubling was the prosecution of an elected senator and critic of Mr. Duterte’s “struggle on medication,” on doubtful fees of getting taken bribes from traffickers. Prime authorities witnesses retracted their testimony nearly per week earlier than the election, but the senator, Leila de Lima, stays in police custody, as she has been since February 2017.
How, precisely, Mr. Marcos would differ from the brutal however — it have to be mentioned — common Mr. Duterte is way from clear. One purpose for the anomaly is the important vacancy of his just-completed marketing campaign. One other is the truth that Mr. Marcos ran as a part of what he known as a “uniteam” with Mr. Duterte’s daughter Sara, who will turn into vp. For the US, whose traditionally shut ties to the Philippines embrace a 1951 mutual protection treaty, the important thing foreign-policy consideration shall be how the brand new president offers with China. Mr. Duterte got here into workplace brazenly courting Beijing — and bashing Washington. He reversed course considerably within the final 12 months of his time period.
Checking the Philippines’ democratic decay whereas preserving Manila as an ally and counterweight to China epitomizes the general strategic problem the Biden administration faces in Southeast Asia. At completely different instances, Mr. Marcos has hinted he would tilt towards China or reassert the alliance with the US; his marketing campaign was no extra coherent on overseas coverage than on anything.
“Decide me not by my ancestors, however by my actions,” Mr. Marcos mentioned in a post-election assertion. This was a good request, however, since Mr. Marcos had campaigned as his father’s son, additionally a little bit of a contradiction. It is just the primary of many who the US might need to navigate in coping with the brand new Filipino president. However Washington ought to be clear with him on one level: America’s pursuits in countering China and in preserving democracy within the Philippines are inextricable.
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