The 2022 presidential campaign of Bongbong Marcos began on October 6, 2021, when he filed his candidacy for the 2022 Philippine presidential election under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. Bongbong Marcos, a former senator of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016, is the son of former president Ferdinand Marcos.
Despite losing in the 2016 Philippine vice presidential election and his subsequent electoral protest, Marcos expressed his interest in running again for a national position in 2022. After being nominated by several parties, Marcos officially announced his candidacy on October 5, 2021, and filed his candidacy a day later. Marcos later selected Duterte's daughter and incumbent mayor of Davao City since 2016, Sara Duterte, as his vice presidential running mate. An electoral alliance for their campaign, called the UniTeam Alliance, was formed on November 29, 2021. Their campaign was officially launched on February 8, 2022 at the Philippine Arena.
Marcos ran on a platform that promised broad continuity of incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte's policies, such as infrastructure development and his foreign policy, alongside some of Duterte's controversial programs. His campaign's messaging was also mainly focused on uniting the country. His candidacy faced staunch opposition from various groups, particularly due to his father's regime, marked by widespread corruption and human rights abuses. There were also several petitions against his bid, many of which are based on his 1995 conviction for failing to file tax returns. The petitions were denied by the Commission on Elections and the Supreme Court.
Marcos won the election in a landslide victory, garnering 58.77% of the vote with a margin of 30.83% over the second placer, Leni Robredo. Marcos became the first majority president since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1986, winning the largest majority since 1981 (although the opposition boycotted that election), and since 1969 for a competitive election. He is also the second president from Ilocos Norte after his father. Meanwhile, his running mate, Duterte, also became the first majority vice president of the Fifth Republic, winning the largest majority since 1969 and garnering the most votes for any office in a single-winner election in Philippine history. They are the first presidential ticket to win together since 2004.
Background
2016 vice presidential campaign and electoral protest
Marcos ran in the 2016 Philippine vice presidential election as the running mate of Miriam Defensor Santiago. A highly contested race, Marcos ultimately lost to then congresswoman Leni Robredo by 263,473 votes or by 0.64 percent, the narrowest margin since the 1965 vice presidential election. Marcos subsequently filed an electoral protest on June 29, 2016; this would be dismissed by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal on February 16, 2021.
Speculation and nominations
By January 2020, Bongbong Marcos confirmed that he was running for a national position in 2022, although he did not specify a specific position. On September 21, 2021, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP; ) nominated Marcos to run for president. During the national convention of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL; ) in Binangonan, the party founded by his father, he was nominated as the party's candidate for president. Marcos, who remained a member of the Nacionalista Party, thanked KBL for the nomination, but said that he would announce his plans "when the time comes."
Campaign
Announcement
On October 5, Marcos announced his presidential candidacy. Marcos then resigned from the Nacionalistas and was sworn in at the PFP chairman. Marcos ultimately filed his presidential candidacy under the PFP on October 6. According to his wife, Liza, Marcos was watching Ant-Man, a movie about an ex-convict thief turned Avenger superhero, when he told her "Okay, we're gonna do this... run for the presidency".