---- Title: Philippines election: ‘Bongbong’ Marcos claims victory, asks to be judged by his actions, not on his ancestors ---- ... The only son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos asked critics to judge him by his actions and not his past as he tries to name a cabinet Marcos will inherit an economy forecast to grow at one of the fastest rates in Southeast Asia, despite surging inflation due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ---- Image Caption: Philippine presumptive president Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Junior addresses a press conference in Manila on Wednesday. The namesake of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos asked not to be judged on his ‘ancestors’. ---- ... The only son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos claimed victory on Wednesday in a high-stakes Philippines presidential election and asked critics to judge him by his actions and not his past as he moves on with considering names for his cabinet. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr won Monday’s election by a landslide, cementing his family’s return to power more than three decades after his father was ousted from office. However, the former Senator made his claim of victory through his spokesman Vic Rodriguez, signalling he remains cautious even as his supporters have held celebratory parties over the past two days. “To the world, he says: judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions,” Rodriguez was quoting Marcos Jnr during a televised briefing. His lead in the presidential vote has become “unassailable,” Rodriguez said, adding that Marcos intends to be a leader for all citizens. The presumptive president will now work across the Philippines to address critical issues, his spokesman added. Marcos’ rival Leni Robredo did not concede, though she addressed her followers and prepared them for a prospect of a defeat in the early hours on Tuesday. She was hoping for a come-from-behind victory as she attracted some of the biggest pre-election rallies in decades and depended on volunteers to speak of her accomplishments. My Opinion: The main problem that I see is that, for some years and during the election campaign, he was not honest about his past and the past of his family. I generally support the idea of people not being held accountable for the mischieves of their ancestors, but, in order to avoid repeat, it is very important that these people be very open and straightforward about what happened and what is wrong. The attitude of Marcos Jr. has been minimization, denial and disinformation. It is also a big problem that Marcos Jr. could possibly interfere with presidential powers such as pardon to deprive forever the Philipine people of the right to the truth and of the right to justice. It is a problem that Marcos Jr. could use security issues to further erode civil rights and democracy, even when, arguably, Duterte's policies, which he supports, did not resolve by making government and law enforcement taking part in arbitrary acts of violence. It is a problem that Marcos Jr. could abuse powers to further weaken freedom of the press, as we can clearly see that he is willing to use disinformation about crimes of his relatives for a political advantage. That said, even as we can see that many things wih make this election unfair, including a very significant impact of blatant disinformation, as well as voters not being able to vote, the margin in the vote count is important, and validating or not his election must be decided by Philipine Justice according to the Rule of Law.