Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos loses bid to overturn Philippines vice-presidential election loss
- Bongbong had accused his rival candidate Leni Robredo of electoral fraud after she narrowly defeated him in 2016
- Losing the election was a blow for the Marcos family, which had gone into exile in the US after the patriarch’s downfall in 1986
The Philippines’ top court on Tuesday dismissed an election protest by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr, the son and namesake of the country’s former dictator, whose defeat in the 2016 vice-presidential poll was a setback for his clan’s political revival.
Bongbong had accused his rival candidate Leni Robredo of electoral fraud after she narrowly defeated him. A recount in tightly contested areas gave her a bigger lead.
The 15-member court, which voted as an electoral tribunal, unanimously junked the protest filed by Marcos Jnr, court spokesperson Brian Hosaka said at a news briefing on Tuesday.
Marcos Jnr lost to Robredo, a human rights lawyer, by more than 263,000 votes in the race for the vice presidency, the highest political office that came close to being captured by the family of the ex-dictator, who was ousted in an army-backed “people power” revolt in 1986.
Marcos Jnr did not immediately comment on the court decision, which has not yet been made public by the court. Robredo’s spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, thanked her supporters.
Losing the election was a blow for the Marcos family, which had gone into exile in the United States after the patriarch’s humiliating downfall in 1986. He and his wife Imelda were accused of massive corruption while in power.
The dictator’s family returned to the Philippines after he died in 1989 in Hawaii. The clan remains influential with members in political positions, and had targeted the vice-presidential post as a way back to the top office in the country.