The son of a former dictator of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, also known as ”Bongbong”, has been inaugurated as the country's newest president after a landslide election victory.
Mr Marcos Jr received more than 31 million votes in May's election in a result that brought his family name back into the political limelight, 36 years after his father's removal from power.
Ferdinand Marcos Sr ruled the country for two decades, creating vast debt and financial ruin through kleptocracy and authoritarianism. Here is a look at the former dictator, his fall and his legacy.
Who was Ferdinand Marcos Sr?
Born on September 11, 1917, Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr served as his country’s 10th president for 21 years.
He earned a reputation as a “war hero” but his claims were found to be false by the US Army.
“Army investigations found no foundation for Mr Marcos’s claims that he led a guerrilla force called Ang Mga Maharlika in military operations against Japanese forces from 1942 to 1944,” The New York Times reported on January 23, 1986.
US Army Capt Elbert Curtis called Marcos Sr’s claims “fraudulent" and “preposterous”.
From a career in law, Marcos Sr rose to power in 1949 as a member of the Philippines' House of Representatives, then the Senate in 1959.
He was elected president six years later.
Although the country’s economy prospered in the early years of his rule, the Philippines soon became rife with poverty, debt and a crushing financial crisis.
He was re-elected for a second term shortly after enacting martial law, effectively expanding his powers, silencing the opposition and oppressing religious minorities such as Muslims.
Amnesty International estimates that more than 3,000 people were victims of extrajudicial killings and 35,000 others were tortured during Marcos Sr’s rule under martial law from 1972 to 1986.
Overall, Marcos Sr’s reign is largely associated with corruption, extravagance and ill-gotten wealth.
Speaking to the Philippines’ Inquirer in 1998, Marcos Sr’s wife Imelda famously said:
How did he lose power?
By his third term in 1981, the cracks in Marcos Sr’s rule began to show.
The assassination of an opposition senator, Benigno Aquino Jr, caused an anti-Marcos sentiment to gain strength.
Then, documents of the dictator’s illicit financial activities began to surface.
In 1986, he was removed from power after calling for snap elections in an interview with US broadcaster ABC News.
One of the presidential candidates considered by the opposition included the assassinated senator’s widow Corazon Aquino, who lost by 7 per cent of the vote.
These results caused outrage as accusations of electoral fraud were hurled at Marcos Sr, leading to a chain of events that resulted in high-level resignations from his government.
The People Power Revolution took off on February 22, 1986, effectively removing Marcos Sr from power and prompting him to flee to Hawaii.
Where do the Marcos family live now?
Despite a constitutional article that prohibits political dynasties, the Marcos family are still a part of the country’s political fabric.
They returned to the Philippines in 1991 to face corruption charges two years after Marcos Sr’s death.
Imelda Marcos made a failed bid for president shortly after the family’s return, while Mr Marcos Jr followed in his father’s footsteps by landing a seat in the House of Representatives.
Imelda and her daughter Imee won their own seats in the House.
Despite standing trial for numerous charges, the former first lady has not served any jail sentence.
Now, Mr Marcos Jr has become the Philippines’ president.
“But 2022 is not 1972. This is not the end of Philippine democracy, though it may accelerate its decay,” said Gregory Poling, a senior fellow and director for South-East Asia at Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
American historian Alfred McCoy, who has written books on the Marcos Sr dictatorship, said: “Bongbong Marcos is as if Marcos Sr rose from the dead ... he is a surrogate for his father.”
Bongbong has tried to distance himself from his family's legacy.
"Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions," his spokesman, Vic Rodriguez, has quoted Mr Marcos Jr as saying.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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