Philippine elections 2016 Archives - Asian Studies Association of Australia

Tough guy wins in the Philippines, another tough guy waiting in the wings

12th May 2016 / Damien Kingsbury / The Philippines

There may be more to the Philippines’ new president Rodrigo Duterte than his tough guy image indicates In the populist theatrics that are Filipino politics, the overwhelming election of Rodrigo Duterte should not have come as a surprise, even if comparisons with US ‘outsider’ Donald Trump have been as common as they are inaccurate. Unlike […]

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Atoning for the sins of the father

13th April 2016 / Michael Henry Yusingco / The Philippines

Bongbong Marcos’s bid for the vice-presidency could be a test for the maturity of Philippine democracy Around the period that the Philippines was under the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos (1965–86), South Korea was under the military dictatorship of Park Chung-hee (1963–79). The restoration of democracy in both countries was finally accomplished by popular revolt,

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Bongbong makes a move

17th March 2016 / Damien Kingsbury / The Philippines

The son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has set his sights on the country’s second-highest office in the coming elections It is perhaps a little unfair to say that only in the Philippines would the people consider electing a politician known by the otherwise clownish name of ‘Bongbong’. But equally, and arguably more fairly,

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