Philippine Daily Inquirer-June 30
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was forced to flee Malacañang as an angry young man in military fatigues, ready to fight to protect his family in 1986. Now 64, he returns in triumph, exuberant with his massive election victory and appearing confident in taking the post his father held for 20 years. Today, he leads his family back to Malacañang 36 years after the Edsa People Power Revolution and the 50th year since the declaration of martial law that set the stage for his father’s dictatorship and his family’s dominance of Philippine politics and social life. He will swear an oath to the 1987 Constitution that was tailored partly to prevent a repeat of the dictatorship with a single six-year term for the president, among other provisions. The former senator won the May 9 elections with 31.6 million votes, more than double the 15.03 million received by his main rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, who defeated him in a close race for the vice presidency in 2016. After the oathtaking, Marcos will host a vin d’honneur before he heads back to Malacanang, for the arrival honors for the new president. The highest ranking foreign dignitaries attending the inauguration are Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan. Marcos is expected to have separate meetings with Wang and US second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris who will lead the seven-member delegation from Washington. UP professor, Maria Fe Villamejor-Mendoza, former dean of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, said that the “unimaginable happened” when another Marcos was elected to occupy Malacañang. The Presidential Commission on Good Government has recovered about P172.4 billion in the family’s ill-gotten wealth as of 2020 and estimated that about P125 billion more are still to be recovered from the Marcoses. Read more at: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1619262/bongbong-marcos-left-palace-angry-he-retakes-it-today#ixzz7Xf4IcEoz
