MANILA -- Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., the namesake son of the late Philippine dictator, said Tuesday he plans to run for president in next year's election.
"I am today announcing my intention to run for the presidency of the Philippines in the upcoming May 2022 elections," Marcos said in an announcement on Facebook.
A successful bid would mark the Marcos family's return to power after the patriarch was ousted by the "People Power" revolution in 1986.
The race to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte is getting crowded. Boxing icon and senator Manny Pacquiao, and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno have already announced they will run.
A former senator, Marcos ran for vice president in 2016, but lost by a slim margin to Leni Robredo, a one-term congresswoman backed by late former president Benigno Aquino, whose father was an opposition leader during the Marcos presidency.
Marcos Jr.'s bid to reverse the election result was unanimously dismissed by the Supreme Court in February, but recent opinion polls show he is performing strongly.
He moved up to the second place in a survey conducted Sept. 6-11 by Pulse Asia -- a poll topped by Duterte's daughter Sara, the mayor of Davao City.
The older Marcos ruled the Southeast Asian nation for over two decades, latterly as a dictator. His martial law regime was notorious for widespread human rights abuses and ill-gotten wealth estimated to be worth billions of dollars -- issues that will likely hound Marcos Jr.'s candidacy.
Despite those issues, the Marcoses have remained a formidable political force and maintained loyal supporters in country's northern regions.
Duterte also helped rehabilitate the Marcos family's image. Months after assuming office in 2016, Duterte facilitated the "hero's burial" of dictator's embalmed body.
In 2018, Duterte said he preferred Marcos as his successor rather than Robredo. In 2019 midterm elections, Marcos' sister Imee won one of the 12 senate seats.
The 64-year-old who goes by the nickname "Bongbong" is the second child of the late dictator and his wife Imelda. The younger Marcos has "special diploma in social studies" from Oxford University.