New Marcos era kicks off

Back in power: Marcos Jr (fourth from right) posing with his family, including his mother Imelda on his right, during the inauguration ceremony at the National Museum in Manila. — AP

THE son and namesake of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos has been sworn in as president of the Philippines, completing a stunning comeback for one of Asia’s most famous political dynasties, 36 years after it was ousted in a popular uprising.

Marcos Jr scored a rare landslide victory in last month’s election, helped by what his critics see as a decades-long effort to alter public perceptions of a family that lived lavishly at the helm of one of the world’s most notorious kleptocracies.