News Backgrounder: Election Day in the Philippines

Here’s the situation: It’s election day in the Philippines, and the country may be doing something once considered impossible – replacing the authoritarian-minded Rodrigo Duterte, who cannot run due to the country’s single-term limit – with someone possibly worse for democracy, Bongbong Marcos, the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The polls show that Marcos is leading his main rival, current Vice President Leni Robredo, by double digits. Though some hope that a last minute surge could stop Marcos, it looks unlikely.

Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish

The Vice President of the Philippines, Leonor ‘Leni’ Robredo, is seen as the only election candidate with a realistic chance of stopping a return to power for the Marcos family, which ran the Philippines under a dictatorship until 1986 👇

May 8th 2022

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When results are out, it could be “back to the future” for Philippines politics (Sol Iglesias, David Camroux, East Asia Forum).

Tom Allard @tom_allard

Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr, pictured at Oxford University, is set to be Philippines president and oversee the hunt for $10b plundered by his parents when they ruled. For decades, it's an effort Marcos Jr has tried to thwart at every turn. w/@karenlema reuters.com/investigates/s…

May 3rd 2022

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This Asia Undercovered Backgrounder aims to fill the gap in western media coverage on the Philippines elections. We’ve gathered some the best regional reporting on the elections, with pieces exploring the key issues, from the role of disinformation, the distortion of the country’s past, and even venues for creative resistance through comics.