Philippines election: the ultimate Marcos v Duterte showdown
A fight to the death between two ruling dynasties who have done much to shape the modern Philippines is about to enter its end game.
Battle will be joined in midterm elections on Monday in which neither of the two politicians with most at stake will be on any of the ballot papers.
Only three years ago, Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos and Sara Duterte formed an unlikely populist alliance to win a landslide election mandate. Their victory installed the son of the country's former dictator as president and the daughter of the controversial outgoing president as his deputy. But the partnership unravelled fast.
In February Duterte, 46, was impeached by Congress for plotting to kill Marcos and his first lady, misusing millions from her private office,
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Elon Musk says he 'regrets' some of his posts about Donald Trump
Elon Musk has said he "regrets" some of his posts about Donald Trump, saying they "went too far". Musk posted a series of tweets on X last week in a fiery exchange between the pair. Among them, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO described the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination". Last week, the billionaire also posted on X saying the president appeared in files relating to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. The post was deleted by Sunday, along with some others accusing the president of wrongdoing. The White House dismissed Musk's Epstein claims at the time, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying: "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill [a Republican tax and spending bill] because it does not include the policies he wanted. "The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again." Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Musk says he regrets some posts he made about Trump
June 11 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he regrets some of the posts he made last week about U.S President Donald Trump, in a message on his social media platform X. "I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far," Musk wrote. Trump and Musk began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination." Musk's post comes days after Trump said his relationship with Musk was over.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Edgar Lungu funeral row causes chaos for mourners of Zambia's ex-president
Arranging a funeral can be testing at the best of times - let alone for a former head of state. Amid that intense, initial stage of grief, loved ones must juggle cost, the wishes of the deceased and numerous other factors in order to throw a fitting the clashing desires of a national government and its political opponents into the mix, and things become doubly Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died last Thursday. His death at the age of 68 has shocked Zambians - and there is genuine sense of grief with all radio stations playing gospel music for the man who had remained influential in Zambian politics despite being barred from contesting last year's is officially a Christian country - and most people take their religion and periods of mourning a standoff between his family, the government and Lungu's political party, the Patriotic Front (PF), has left mourners confused about how exactly the former president should be government announced there would be a state funeral and declared that the official venue for mourning would be a lodge it owns in the capital, Lusaka, but the PF dismissed this plan, directing mourners to its headquarters for Lungu's family, they have said they are not opposed to a state funeral, but have insisted on choosing who will preside over it, family lawyer Makebi Zulu has told the there is the official book of condolence, in which mourners can pay tributes to Lungu. The government has set up an official book - at the lodge - but the PF has urged people to sign theirs instead - at their government wanted to repatriate his body from South Africa last week - Lungu died there after receiving treatment for an undisclosed the PF and Lungu's family intervened, wanting to organise the safe passage of the ex-leader themselves."The state was saying, 'We are giving him full military honours, therefore we're taking over from here' - as if to say that 'you have no say over what happens,'" Mr Zulu for returning Lungu's remains are still unclear, though the family are now engaging with the government on this has also been confusion over the "official" mourning period when all forms of entertainment like big football matches and concerts are government declared a seven-day national mourning period starting last Saturday, even though the PF announced one days earlier. This chaos is, in short, a continuation of the tumultuous relationship between Lungu and his successor, President Hakainde pair are long-time rivals - in 2017, when Lungu was president, he had Hichilema locked up for over 100 days on treason charges after Hichilema's motorcade allegedly refused to give way for took the intervention of the Commonwealth for Hichilema to be released. Four years later, and after five attempts at the presidency, Hichilema defeated the PF and the Lungu family's lawyer are accusing Hichilema's government of being partly responsible for the former president's returned to frontline politics in 2023, frequently accusing Hichilema's government of victimising him and other PF after Lungu's death, his party allege that Lungu was banned from leaving the country for years and that if he had been allowed to travel to seek medical treatment sooner, he might still be government has vehemently denied any responsibility for Lungu's death, with spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa insisting that the ex-president was never prohibited from Mweetwa told the BBC that the PF was trying to use Lungu's death as a "springboard" for a "political comeback".It is not the first time conflict has broken out following a Zambian leader's 2021, the family of Kenneth Kaunda, the country's first post-independence president, said he wanted to be laid to rest next to his wife and not at the site designated by the this, the government went ahead and buried Kaunda at Embassy Memorial Park in Lusaka."The High Court ruled that national interest takes precedence over individual or family preferences because there is a designated burial place for former presidents, and there is a designated set of protocol to handle those proceedings that are conducted by the state, not a political party," Mr Mweetwa argument - about the state's rights to a dead president's body - has played out numerous times across 2019, Robert Mugabe died almost two years after being unseated as Zimbabwe's president by his former right-hand man, Emmerson family refused to allow him to be buried at the national Heroes' Acre, arguing that he had been betrayed by his former colleagues. After a bitter feud, the man who had led Zimbabwe to independence was laid to rest after his state funeral in his home a legal row rumbles on over his burial site, with some still wanting him to be interred at Heroes' Acre, where a mausoleum has now been completed for loved ones rarely won such disputes. The relatives of Angola's José Eduardo dos Santos and various Ghanaian presidents have clashed with the government over post-death arrangements, but all eventually had to yield to the Lungu's case, the government has the constitution - the supreme law of the land - behind it, but the PF has significant clout as the former leader's long-time political an attempt to break the standoff, the government has sent envoys to South Africa to negotiate with Lungu's family, where a private memorial service was held at Pretoria's Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday - organised by the was attended by his widow and daughter and where it was announced to the congregation that the former president's body would not be flown home on Wednesday as had been for those in Zambia, there is still no clear direction on how to send off the nation's sixth president. More BBC stories about Zambia: 'My son is a drug addict, please help' - the actor breaking a Zambian tabooAn ancient writing system confounding myths about AfricaZambia president orders ministers to stop sleeping in cabinet Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
