Marcos, rebranded: Why son of dictator is leading Philippines’ polls

Bonifacio Ilagan was only 22 when the security forces raided the house where he’d been hiding after joining a large student activist movement resisting the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Authorities brought him to Camp Crame, a detention facility that today serves as the headquarters of the national police. There he was tortured in an attempt to extract information on the whereabouts of his colleagues in the movement, but Mr. Ilagan says he never gave up names.

“I refused to be the reason someone will be killed,” he says.

Now in his 70s, Mr. Ilagan isn’t the only one. Many people disappeared, including Mr. Ilagan’s sister. But their stories seem to have little effect on the Filipino electorate, which is poised to pick Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – the son and namesake of the late dictator – as the country’s next president on Monday. Latest opinion polls also show Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of the controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, leading in the race for vice president, a position Filipinos elect separately.