Bongbong Marcos

Ferdinand Romualdez "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child and only son of 10th president Ferdinand Marcos and former first lady Imelda Marcos.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. was born on September 13, 1957 to Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Romualdez Marcos, at a hospital in Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippines, which became known as the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital the following year. At the time of his birth, his father Ferdinand was the representative for the second district of Ilocos Norte, and became a senator two years later. His godfathers include the "Marcos cronies" Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. and Jose Yao Campos.^[1]

Education

Marcos first studied at the Institución Teresiana in Quezon City and La Salle Green Hills in Mandaluyong, where he obtained his kindergarten and elementary education, respectively.^[1]

Early public roles

Marcos was thrust into the national limelight as early as when he was three years old, and the scrutiny became even more intense when his father first ran for President of the Philippines in 1965, when he was eight years old.^[1]

Vice governorship and governorship in Ilocos Norte

Marcos's first formal role in a political office came with his election as Vice Governor of Ilocos Norte (1980–1983) at the age of 22. On March 23, 1983, he was installed as the Governor of Ilocos Norte, replacing his aunt Elizabeth Marcos-Keon, who had resigned from the post for health reasons. In 1983, he led a group of young Filipino leaders on a 10-day diplomatic mission to China to mark the tenth anniversary of Philippine–Chinese relations.^[1]

Chairmanship of PHILCOMSAT Board

Marcos was appointed by his father to be chairman of the board of the Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (PHILCOMSAT) in early 1985. In a prominent example of what Finance Minister Jaime Ongpin later branded "crony capitalism", the Marcos administration had sold its majority shares to Marcos cronies such as Roberto S. Benedicto, Manuel H.^[1]

As an Officer of the Philippine Constabulary

Marcos Jr. was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Philippine Constabulary Reserve in 1978, as a member of the Presidential Security Command, while serving as a special presidential assistant for his father. He had also undergone a six-month officer course at the Philippine Marine Training Center.^[1]

EDSA revolution and exile (1986–1991)

During the last days of the 1986 People Power Revolution, Bongbong Marcos, dressed in combat fatigues to project his warlike stance, pushed his father Ferdinand Marcos to give the order to his remaining troops to attack and blow up Camp Crame despite the presence of hundreds of thousands of civilians there. The elder Marcos did not follow his son's urgings.^[1]

Return to the Philippines; political career (1991–2022)

In the early 1990s, President Corazon Aquino permitted the return of the remaining members of the Marcos family to the Philippines to face various charges. Bongbong Marcos flew on a private plane from Singapore to the Philippines and landed in Laoag, Ilocos Norte on October 31, 1991, becoming the first Marcos family member to return to the Philippines since 1986; his mother Imelda followed suit four days later. He soon sought political office, beginning in the family's traditional fiefdom in Ilocos Norte.^[1]

Ill-gotten Marcos family wealth

After the Marcos family went into exile in 1986, the Presidential Commission on Good Government found that the three Marcos children benefited significantly from what the Supreme Court of the Philippines defined as "ill-gotten wealth" of the Marcos family.^[1]