Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of the former president whose two-decade rule ended in a public revolt, won a landslide presidential election victory on Tuesday, as Filipino voters dismissed critics who say his rise could put their fragile democracy at risk.
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Junior had secured 31 million votes with more than 98 per cent of the count concluded — more than double the tally of his nearest rival, liberal candidate Leni Robredo.
His running mate, Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing president and mayor of southern Davao city, had a formidable lead in the separate vice presidential race.
The expected victory is another turnaround for the fortunes of the Marcos family, who have gone from the presidential palace to pariahs and likely back again in the space of half a century.
In 1986, the elder Marcos and first lady Imelda Marcos were deposed and exiled by the "People Power" revolution.
"Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions," Mr Marcos Jr told the world, according to a statement by his spokesperson Vic Rodriguez.
Current authoritarian president Rodrigo Duterte retains widespread popular support but rights activists, Catholic leaders and political analysts have said that Mr Marcos Jr could rule with an even heavier fist if he wins by a large margin.
Delivering a late-night address from his campaign headquarters in Manila, a tired but beaming Mr Marcos Jr thanked volunteers for months of "sacrifices and work".
But he stopped short of claiming victory, warning that "the count is not yet done".
"Let's wait until it's very clear, until the count reaches a hundred per cent then we can celebrate."
Outside, euphoric supporters set off fireworks, waved the national flag and clambered on to parked cars to chant in victory.
Cleve Arguelles, a political science lecturer at Manila's De La Salle University, said it was already clear that "this will be a historic election" for the Philippines.
Mr Marcos Jr's opponent, Ms Robredo, a lawyer and the current vice president, admitted "clear disappointment" about the result.
The 57-year-old had promised to clean up the dirty style of politics that has long plagued a country where a handful of families hold sway.
In the final weeks before the election, her campaign morphed into a catchall pro-democracy movement that drew almost one million people to a single protest in Manila.
"She has no whiff of corruption allegations," said 52-year-old Robredo supporter Corazon Bagay. "She's not a thief. Leni is honest."
In a televised address in the early hours of Tuesday, Ms Robredo told supporters "nothing has been wasted. We did not fail".
She indicated that the movement would continue after the final results are announced, a process expected to take weeks.
"We are just getting started," she said.
Judy Taguiwalo, 72, an anti-Marcos activist, said the election was "another crossroads" for the country.
"We need to continue to stand up and struggle."
Analyst Mark Thompson said there should now be soul searching among an opposition that needs to broaden its message beyond "good governance".
"They need to make clear that they're going to improve the lives of the average Filipino," said Mr Thompson, who is director of the South-East Asia Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong.
Mr Marcos Jr was able to tap into widespread anger at a string of post-dictatorship governments, which many Filipinos believe had failed to materially improve their lives.
Crucially, he also secured the support of several of the country's powerful political dynasties, who through networks of patronage can be called on to deliver blocs of votes.
Those alliances were set for a further victory with his running mate, Sara Duterte, garnering an even bigger lead over rivals in her vice presidential race.
Election day began before dawn, as mask-clad voters formed long queues to cast their ballots in tens of thousands of polling stations across the archipelago.
Polls officially closed 13 hours later at 7.00pm (1100 GMT).
At Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School in the northern city of Batac, the ancestral home of the Marcoses, voters waved hand fans to cool themselves in the tropical heat.
Bomb sniffer dogs swept the polling station before Mr Marcos Jr, 64, arrived with his younger sister, Irene, and eldest son, Sandro.
They were followed by Mr Marcos Jr's mother, Imelda, who was lowered from a van dressed head to toe in red - the clan's campaign colour.
Sandro, 28, who is running for elected office for the first time in a congressional district in Ilocos Norte province, admitted the family's history was "a burden".
"It's one that we also try to sustain and protect and better as we serve," he added.
Mr Marcos Jr and Ms Duterte - both children of authoritarian leaders - have insisted they are best qualified to "unify" the country.
Hundreds of thousands of red-clad supporters turned out at Mr Marcos Jr and Ms Duterte's raucous rally in Manila on Saturday, as they made a last push for votes.
Other candidates seeking the presidency included boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and former street scavenger-turned-actor Francisco Domagoso.
Personality rather than policy typically influences many people's choice of candidate, though vote-buying and intimidation are also perennial problems.
More than 60,000 security personnel were sent out to protect polling stations and election workers.
Police reported at least two deadly shootings at polling stations on the restive southern island of Mindanao that left four people dead and three wounded.
That followed a grenade attack on Sunday that injured nine people.
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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T20 SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Four tips to secure IoT networks
Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:
- Keep device software up-to-date. Most come with basic operating system, so users should ensure that they always have the latest version
- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number
- Usually smart devices come with many unnecessary features. Users should lock those features that are not required or used frequently
- Always create a different guest network for visitors
The%20specs
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The%20Beekeeper
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDavid%20Ayer%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJason%20Statham%2C%20Josh%20Hutcherson%2C%20Emmy%20Raver-Lampman%2C%20Minnie%20Driver%2C%20Jeremy%20Irons%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5