A preliminary count of votes in the Philippines election indicated that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was ahead by a significant margin. This is the son and nameake the dictatorial late dictator, who ruled for more than 20 years.

Marcos received 15.3 million votes, which is more than twice the amount of Vice President Leni Robertredo. 46.9% of the eligible ballots were counted according to an informal count done by the Commission on Elections.

This big lead suggests that the Marcos family could once again be in control of their affairs, 36 years after the overthrow of its patriarch by a revolution of “people power” and the humiliating exile of his family.

This closely matches the results of all the opinion polls for this year. They showed Marcos (a former senator) with a significant advantage over Robredo who is associated with the movement which toppled Marcos’ dictatorship in 1986.

The Marcos family, even though it was thrown out of grace, returned to power in 1990s after its exile and is still a strong force in politics. It has remained influential with its wealth and wide-reaching connections, but they are no longer in good standing.

Marcos was also allowed to vote in order to repent his 2016 loss to Robredo (a narrow defeat of just 200,000 votes which he tried unsuccessfully overturn).

Marcos’s policy platform is not clear, however, his presidency should provide continuity with Rodrigo Duterte as outgoing president. Duterte’s strong, brutal approach won him popularity and allowed him to quickly consolidate power.