Son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and graft convict Imelda, Bongbong declared his ambition to return to Malacañang three decades after his family was ousted from power due to electoral fraud, gross violations of human rights and abuse of power.
In 2015, reports have shown that Marcos Jr. faked his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in his resume posted on the Senate website. He supposedly obtained his degrees from Oxford University and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania respectively.
Rappler reported that Marcos Jr. never completed his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford in 1978. But he might have received a ‘face-saving’ special diploma that is not equivalent to a bachelor’s degree. The same is the case with his Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton School. He never completed the course since he withdrew early in 1981. However, despite the overwhelming pieces of evidence in the report, unfazed Marcos Jr. boldly said in a statement that his educational records are ‘accurate.’
In 2016, Marcos Jr. lost the vice presidency to Leni Robredo with only 263,473 votes. He accused Robredo and her political party of cheating and filed an electoral protest, which is currently under investigation.
In November 2018, Marcos Jr. along with sisters Imee and Irene were tagged by Sandiganbayan as beneficiaries of the illegally created and maintained Swiss foundations of Imelda Marcos.
