Marcos Jr proclaimed next Philippine president with huge win

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been proclaimed the next president of the Philippines by a joint session of Congress following a landslide electoral triumph 36 years after his dictator father was ousted in a pro-democracy uprising. The Senate and House of Representatives also declared that his separately elected vice presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, won by a wide margin. She is the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, whose turbulent term ends on June 30. Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte will lead a nation battered by COVID-19 lockdowns, crushing poverty, gaping inequality, Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime and political divisions further inflamed by the May 9 election.