Manila: Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the only son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, will enter the Philippine Senate in June with two main objectives: to be a good senator and to be a potential presidential scion to run for the presidency in 2016, a political analyst told Gulf News.
"When he joins the next Senate session, he will enter as a Marcos and not as a junior or a neophyte senator," said Prospero de Vera, a political analyst.
"He will enter the Senate with a political legacy. He will act like a full-fledged senator," de Vera said, adding the young Marcos would no doubt be looking to emulate his father, known for his sharpness and intelligence as a statesman when he became president in 1965.
The older Marcos was the first Philippine president to declare martial law, in 1972, and was eventually ousted by a people-backed military mutiny in 1986.
"The young Marcos has the making of a great politician because of two things: his political genes and his political experience," said de Vera.
Marcos Jr was governor of Ilocos Norte in the north for nine years, and a congressman for three years, representing a district of his father's home province. He was a graduate of Wharton School of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He saw and experienced the rise and the painful fall of the former first family in 1986.
"Last March, when he campaigned for the Senate, a national contest, he realised that he did not have to apologise for the Marcoses. He found out that the worldview of the young voters did not include allegations against the Marcoses," explained de Vera.
A people-backed military mutiny paved the way for the ouster of Marcos and the ascendance of Corazon Aquino to the presidency in 1986. It ended a 20-year rule of the former strongman who was eventually accused of human rights violations and amassing alleged ill-gotten wealth, estimated at $35 billion (Dh128.5 billion).
"The victory of ‘Bongbong' Marcos in the May 10 elections as a senator was a vindication of the Marcoses. It has closed the loop on the Marcos family," said de Vera.
Today, the bogeyman is no longer Marcos, but outgoing President Gloria Arroyo. "Because of her, the former strongman became more acceptable to many people," said de Vera, hinting that the short historical memories of many Filipinos could be advantageous to the young Marcos.
Although complaints filed against Arroyo at the House of Representatives did not prosper, there is still a lingering perception that she couldn't distance herself from alleged corruption and election fraud in 2004.
