Manila: The son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters on Saturday on the final day of presidential election campaigning, as polls show him heading towards a landslide win.
Up to 65 million Filipinos are eligible to cast ballots on Monday to decide on the successor to President Rodrigo Duterte after six years in power, plus thousands of other posts, from lawmakers and governors to city mayors and councillors.
A two-horse presidential race has emerged between Vice President Leni Robredo and frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of a strongman whose two-decade rule ended with his overthrow in a 1986 “people power” uprising.
Victory in Monday’s election would cap a decades-long effort to rehabilitate the Marcos legacy after the patriarch was deposed and the disgraced clan chased into US exile.
Ten candidates are vying to succeed Duterte in the landmark elections seen by many as a make-or-break moment for Philippine democracy.
The Marcoses’ remarkable return from pariahs to the peak of political power has been fuelled by public anger over corruption and poverty that persisted under governments that followed the dictatorship.
Polls indicate Marcos Jr will win more than half the votes, which would make him the first presidential candidate in the post-Marcos era to secure an absolute majority.
“If he wins really big that could give him the kind of confidence and momentum to more radically alter the Philippines political system,” analyst Richard Heydarian told AFP.
The latest poll by Pulse Asia Research showed Marcos Jr on 56 per cent - 33 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival Leni Robredo, who narrowly beat him in the 2016 vice-presidential race.
Robredo, 57, has warned supporters that the “future of the country” is at stake.
Her recent poll bump has raised hopes among progressive supporters that their volunteer-driven campaign could yet deliver an upset.
But pollster Ana Maria Tabunda of Pulse Asia Research said there was little chance of that.
“Our error margin is only plus or minus two percentage points - given the large gap it’s not going to be affecting the results,” Tabunda told AFP.
Hundreds of thousands of supporters turned out on Saturday in Manila for the final rallies of Marcos Jr and Robredo ahead of the election. Monday’s winner only needs to get more votes than anyone else.
Still smarting from his 2016 loss, Marcos Jr has run a tightly controlled campaign, skipping televised debates with rivals and largely shunning media interviews to avoid own goals before election day.
He has instead posted folksy videos on YouTube that seek to present him and his wealthy family as regular Filipinos, and taken softball questions from celebrity interviewers.
Marcos Jr’s popularity has been further enhanced by a formidable alliance with vice-presidential front runner and first daughter Sara Duterte, and the backing of several rival political dynasties.
Robredo faces an “uphill battle”, said Cleve Arguelles, an assistant lecturer in political science at De La Salle University in Manila.
