Month: May 2022

The 64-year-old senator has so far won 56% of the vote, compared to 28% for rival Leni Robredo.

Mr Marcos’ victory would return his family to power 36 years after they were ousted by a popular revolution.

Critics allege his campaign was fuelled by misinformation, which he denies.

Turnout on voting day was high and previous elections in the country have largely been ruled to be fair. Isolated incidents of violence – including the shooting of three people near a polling station – were not reflected widely across the country, officials said.

But the BBC’s Howard Johnson in Manila says there are lingering questions about broken machines at polling stations and videos allegedly showing vote buying.

Opinion polls in the run-up to the election put Mr Marcos Jr ahead of his nearest rival, Ms Robredo, by dozens of percentage points.

Critics say this was the result of Mr Marcos Jr consistently painting his father’s rule as a “golden age” for the Philippines, whitewashing a period of rampant corruption and widespread poverty.

His father, Ferdinand Marcos, who became president in 1965, imposed martial law in 1972 and presided over a brutal regime which saw thousands of dissenters and critics jailed and killed.

Mr Marcos Sr, who died in 1989, and his wife Imelda stole an estimated $10bn (£8.1bn) from the Philippines’ coffers, becoming infamous examples of public graft.

There was a social media campaign to rebrand the old Marcos era, not as the period of martial law with its terrible human rights abuses, corruption and near-economic collapse, but as a golden age of crime-free prosperity.

This began at least a decade ago, with hundreds of deceptively-edited videos being uploaded to YouTube, which were then reposted on sympathetic Facebook pages.

These have persuaded millions of Filipinos that the vilification of the Marcoses after their downfall was unfair, that the stories of unrivalled greed were untrue.

And then there are the myths, widely believed in poorer parts of the Philippines, that the Marcoses do indeed hold vast wealth in offshore accounts or hidden stashes of gold bullion, but that these are being kept to benefit the Filipino people once they are restored to power.

But the pro-Marcos disinformation campaign also benefited from widespread public disappointment with the failure of the post-1986 administrations to bring significant improvements to the lives of poorer Filipinos.

Bongbong Marcos successfully portrayed himself as the candidate for change, like his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, promising happiness and unity to a country weary of the years of political polarisation and pandemic hardship and hungry for a better story.

The younger Mr Marcos is not a newcomer to politics, having served in various elected positions over the years. He lost the 2016 vice-presidential election to Ms Robredo – a result he fiercely contested.

In the run-up to this election, critics say his campaign didn’t detail his plans or policies, and that he avoided debates where he might face independent questioning.

He held lavish rallies featuring pop music, comedy and dancing, where attendees were given freebies like wristbands and T-shirts.

Ms Robredo, who ran for president on the promise of a clean and effective government, also drew huge crowds at her “pink revolution” rallies.

The rival campaigns turned this into one of the Philippines’ most watched elections. Both candidates tried to woo those below the age of 30, who account for nearly half of the registered voters.

Mr Marcos Jr is set to inherit a country whose economy appears to be recovering from the pandemic better than expected.

But challenges, from high inflation to the aftermath of a brutal anti-drug campaign President Rodrigo Duterte, remain.

Mr Duterte, a hugely popular strongman-style leader, oversaw a notorious war on drugs that led to police killing thousands without trial, according to human rights groups.

His daughter, Sara Duterte, who ran for vice-president alongside Mr Marcos Jr, is leading by a wide margin of votes, partial results show.

The election was not just for the presidential positions, but also for senators, the lower house and regional officials across the entire archipelago.

The official count of all votes may take days.

A party source says “documentary evidence” shows Sir Keir Starmer’s team were working until 01:00 BST.

Durham police are investigating reports of a gathering where the Labour leader ate a curry and drank a beer at an MP’s office during an election visit.

Sir Keir has pledged to resign if he is fined over the allegations.

The Labour Party is confident it can prove that the gathering in April last year was permitted under rules that allowed work events, saying that those attending were working late on the campaign for the Hartlepool by-election.

The Guardian said the party has compiled time-stamped logs from WhatsApp chats, documents and video edits which show work continued after the takeaway food was delivered.

A party source said: “We have been totally clear that no rules were broken. We will provide documentary evidence that people were working before and after stopping to have food.”

In a statement on Monday, Sir Keir repeatedly said no laws had been broken, as he tried to contrast his position with that of Boris Johnson, who refused to resign after being fined by the Metropolitan Police over his birthday celebration at No 10 Downing Street in June 2020.

Having repeatedly called for the prime minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to quit after it was found they had broken the law, the Labour leader has come under increasing pressure to make his own position clear, with the Conservatives accusing him of “rank double standards”.

When asked if the Labour leader had now assumed a position of moral authority over the government, Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said: “I don’t particularly.”

Mr Malthouse refused to say whether Sir Keir ​should resign if he was fined, saying “that’s a matter for him” and Durham police should be given “the space and time to do their job”.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, who was also present at the meal, said she too would resign if she was fined.

But Culture minister Chris Philp accused Sir Keir of “attempting to pressure the police into clearing him” by announcing that a fine would mean the end of his leadership.

Mr Philp said it was “deeply inappropriate”.

Durham police announced on Friday that it was launching an inquiry into the Labour event, having previously said it did not believe any offence had been committed.

It is thought the investigation could last up to eight weeks.

A video of the gathering on 30 April 2021, which took place in the constituency office of City of Durham MP May Foy, shows Sir Keir drinking a bottle of beer while colleagues in the background are eating.

Under the Covid laws in England at the time, indoor gatherings were banned – but there was an exception for “work purposes”.

Sir Keir said in his statement that “no laws were broken” and he “simply had something to eat while working late in the evening”.

He suggested even his critics did not really believe the allegation against him, but were simply trying “to get the public to believe all politicians are the same”.

“I’m here to say they are not – I believe in honour, integrity and the principle that those who make the laws should follow them,” he added.

“If the police decide to issue me with a fixed-penalty notice, I would of course do the right thing and step down.”

The Labour leader faced questions about whether he had left himself a loophole if police suggest he may have broken Covid rules, but do not issue a fine.

Durham Police previously came to a similar conclusion when they investigated the PM’s former adviser Dominic Cummings for driving to Barnard Castle during the first Covid lockdown.

Sir Keir said: “The penalty for a Covid breach is a fixed penalty notice, that’s a matter of law, and I’ve set out what the position is in relation to that.”

The speech is expected to focus on boosting economic growth, but the PM will say that the UK cannot spend its way out of trouble and will need to grow the economy.

In all, 38 parliamentary bills are due to be unveiled.

Labour said the Tories were not up to the challenge of growing the economy.

A senior government source defended the lack of new direct help with the fast-rising cost of living in the Queen’s Speech, telling the BBC: “There’s been enough pain relief. It’s time for the surgery the economy needs.”

Ministers will also recommit to tougher penalties for protest groups, like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, who use disruptive tactics.

The Prince of Wales will deliver the address to Parliament at 11:30 BST, after the Queen pulled out on Monday, for the first time since 1963, due to what Buckingham Palace called “episodic mobility problems”.

The Queen’s throne will remain empty, with Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William expected to be seated in front of assembled politicians.

The speech will open with a promise to grow the economy, ease the financial burden on households and pursue the government’s levelling up programme, aimed at tackling regional disparities in the UK.

But there will be no bill specifically aimed at tackling the cost of living.

In a House of Commons debate following the speech, the prime minister is expected to argue the government “cannot simply spend our way out of the country’s problems”, arguing that the answer lies instead in creating highly paid, highly skilled jobs.

The comments will follow a recent prediction from the Bank of England that inflation is likely to rise to around 10% later this year, with food and energy price rises placing a particularly high burden on households.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Times are tough for working people. But they are much tougher than they should be. Some 12 years of the Conservatives have meant low economic growth, high inflation, and high taxes.

“Because the Tories are not up to the challenge of growing the economy, all those tax hikes aren’t going into improving public services. Never before have people been asked to pay so much for so little.”

Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesman Tim Farron urged the government to use the speech to help the countryside by protecting farmers from being undercut by global trade deals.

And SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford accused ministers of a “deafening silence” over the cost of living, saying they had to “deliver desperately needed support to put money into people’s pockets”.

In the Queen’s Speech there will be seven bills which ministers argue deliver the benefits of Brexit, and a Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is expected to change planning rules in England after previous proposals led to a backbench rebellion.

A Public Order Bill would create a new criminal offence – aimed at protest groups – with a maximum sentence of 12 months for “interfering with key national infrastructure” such as airports, railways and printing press. This would also make it illegal to obstruct major transport works such as HS2.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the powers would clamp down on the “outrageous behaviour” of “disruptive protests carried out by a “self-indulgent minority who seem to revel in causing mayhem and misery”.

But the Liberal Democrats called the plans “dangerous and draconian”, with home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael arguing that police already had the powers to stop “guerrilla protesters”.

The new police powers were originally announced last autumn, after campaign group Insulate Britain began blocking major roads and motorways.

Ministers then tried to add the powers as amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill – but failed after Labour and other opposition peers teamed up to oppose them.

Because the changes were introduced after the bill had passed all its stages in the Commons, the government did not have another opportunity to add them before the previous session of Parliament ended last month.

The government will be confident of getting the measures through Parliament in this session as it has a large majority in the House of Commons.

The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge will open Parliament, after the Queen granted special permission.

It will be Prince William’s first state opening, and he and Prince Charles will be accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall.

It is the first time since 1963 that the Queen will not deliver the speech.

At that time, she was pregnant with Prince Edward, and it was instead read by the Lord Chancellor.

The Queen’s main throne will remain empty in the House of Lords on Tuesday.

The decision for Prince Charles to take the Queen’s place was taken on Monday and a new Letters Patent authorised by the monarch was issued to delegate the opening of Parliament to the Counsellors of State.

This is the category of royal that includes the next four people in the line of succession who are over the age of 21.

Buckingham Palace said on Monday that the decision to pull out had been taken in consultation with the Queen’s doctors, as she continues to experience “episodic mobility problems”.

The Palace said in a statement: “At Her Majesty’s request, and with the agreement of the relevant authorities, The Prince of Wales will read The Queen’s Speech on Her Majesty’s behalf, with The Duke of Cambridge also in attendance.”

President Iván Duque said Dairo Antonio Úsuga, better known as Otoniel, was the world’s most dangerous trafficker.

Otoniel led the Gulf Clan cartel and was extradited to the US last week.

In response, the Gulf Clan announced a four-day so-called “armed strike” in the north of the country.

Gang members destroyed at least 100 vehicles on Friday during violent protests against their leader’s extradition. They also intimidated civilians, warning them to stay at home.

The unrest has affected almost 90 municipalities in nine of Colombia’s 32 departments, according to officials. No casualties have been reported.

Defence Minister Diego Molano said the extra troops would be sent to support almost 50,000 personnel already deployed.

The capture of Otoniel in October ended a seven-year manhunt and last month Colombia’s Supreme Court approved the extradition.

The Gulf Clan trafficked between 180 and 200 tonnes of cocaine a year, according to Colombian authorities.

The gang allegedly moves between 30 and 60% of all the cocaine originating from Colombia – the world’s largest producer of the drug.

President Duque has compared Otoniel to the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Prior to his capture, Otoniel was Colombia’s most wanted man and the government had offered a $800,000 (£582,000) reward for information about his whereabouts, while the US had placed a $5m bounty on his head.

The Gulf Clan operates in many provinces and has extensive international connections. It is engaged in drug and people smuggling, illegal gold mining and extortion.

It is believed to have about 1,800 armed members, who are mainly recruited from far-right paramilitary groups. Members have been arrested in Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, Peru and Spain.

It controls many of the routes used to smuggle drugs from Colombia to the US, and as far away as Russia. Authorities in the US have described it as “heavily armed [and] extremely violent”.

Otoniel was eventually captured in his rural hideout in Antioquia province in north-western Colombia in October, close to the border with Panama in an operation involving 500 soldiers supported by 22 helicopters. He now faces life in prison.

The government has offered rewards of up to $1.2m (about £950,000) each for information leading to the capture of Otoniel’s top deputies, known as “Siopas” and “Chiquito Malo”.