Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr.[1][2] (UK: /ˈmɑːrkɒs/, US: /-koʊs, -kɔːs/,[3][4] Tagalog: [ˈmaɾkɔs]; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines.

[1][8] In 1980, Marcos became Vice Governor of Ilocos Norte, running unopposed with the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan party of his father, who was ruling the Philippines under martial law at the time.

[11] Marcos and his mother, Imelda, are currently facing arrest in the United States for defying a court order to pay US$353 million (₱17,385,250,000 in 2025) in restitution to human rights abuse victims during his father's dictatorship.

His godfathers included prominent personalities and future Marcos cronies Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr.[31]: 286  and pharmaceuticals magnate Jose Yao Campos.

[32] Marcos first studied at the Institución Teresiana in Quezon City and La Salle Green Hills in Mandaluyong, where he obtained his kindergarten and elementary education, respectively.

[51] A young Bongbong Marcos and his sister Imee played a small role in the controversial "Manila incident" of the Beatles in July 1966, just six months after their father assumed the presidency.

[56] The incident was brought up in the media again after a 2021 interview between Marcos and actress Toni Gonzaga, when he was asked about which musicians he idolized, and he casually mentioned that he was friends with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and members of the Beatles.

[33][87] In 2014, Bongbong Marcos was implicated by Janet Lim Napoles[102] and Benhur Luy[103] in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) Pork Barrel scam through agent Catherine Mae "Maya" Santos.

[106] In connection to the PDAF scam, Marcos was also sued for plunder by iBalik ang Bilyones ng Mamamayan (iBBM), an alliance of youth organizations.

[179] Marcos signed his fourth executive order on September 14, 2022, which establishes a one-year moratorium on the amortization and interest payments of agrarian reform beneficiaries.

[208] The Marcos administration approved the inclusion of the Philippines to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement, which was ratified by the Senate on February 21, 2023.

[223] In a surprise reversal of Duterte's policy, Marcos announced in November 2023 the revival of peace talks with the communists, a move critics see as a grave mistake.

[230] Marcos initially sought closer ties with China,[231] but has since been increasingly seen as more pro-American than Duterte in an attempt to create a centrist-style balancing act between the two superpowers.

[232][233][234][235][236] During his first State of the Nation Address, Marcos promised to "not preside over any process that will abandon even one-square inch of territory of the Republic of the Philippines to any foreign power".

[240] In May 2024, the Philippines and the United States held its largest Balikatan military exercises, fueling concerns from local civilians who fear they would be affected in any future war between the US and China.

On March 1, 2022, presidential candidate and Manila mayor Isko Moreno said that he would implement the Supreme Court ruling ordering the Marcos family to pay their estate tax debts if elected, vowing to use the proceeds as relief aid (ayuda) for victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

998, stating an urgent and pressing need for the Senate to look into why the estate tax has remained uncollected for almost 25 years, which the amount has already been ruled to be due and demandable against the heirs of his father.

When victims of human rights abuses during his father's administration commemorated the 40th year of the proclamation of martial law in 2012, Marcos Jr. dismissed their calls for an apology for the atrocities as "self-serving statements by politicians, self-aggrandizement narratives, pompous declarations, and political posturing and propaganda.

"[305][306] In the Sydney Morning Herald later that year, Bongbong cited the various court decisions against the Marcos family as a reason not to apologize for Martial Law abuses, saying "we have a judgment against us in the billions.

"[315][316] This was also followed by the University of the Philippines Diliman's Department of History, which released a statement of its own, decrying what they called a "dangerous" effort for Marcos to create "myth and deception.

"[317][318][319] On September 20, 2018, Marcos Jr. released a YouTube video showing a tête-à-tête between him and former senate president Juan Ponce Enrile, who had been his father's defense minister before playing a key role in his ouster during the 1986 EDSA revolution.

[320] The video made a number of claims, which were quickly refuted and denounced by martial law victims, including former senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr., former DSWD secretary Judy Taguiwalo, former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales, and writer Boni Ilagan, among others.

This was corroborated in a 1992 report by the Associated Press that quoted Imelda Marcos saying that her husband's wealth came "from the Japanese and other gold he found after World War II, and not from the Philippine coffers."

In 2007, Marcos informed the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan that his father's wealth came from trading "precious metals more specifically gold from the years 1946 to 1954" when he tried to win back the Ortigas Payanig property in Pasig from the national government.

[50][56][336] He follows Formula One racing as a supporter of Scuderia Ferrari; during his presidency, he attended the 2022 and 2023 Singapore Grand Prix with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other foreign dignitaries.

[345] In an interview with CNN Philippines in April 2022, Marcos responded to Duterte's remarks on him being a "spoiled" and "weak leader", saying that the president was "playing politics" and was "always making sure everybody's thinking hard about what they're doing".

In Duterte's defense, he had used fentanyl because it was prescribed to him by a "Dr. Javier", his alleged physician at St. Luke's Medical Center – Quezon City, to alleviate pain from injuries sustained in a motorbike accident a few years ago.

[350] On May 20, 2024, the Philippine Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs panel cited PDEA agent Jonathan Morales in contempt for '"continuously lying".

Upon Jinggoy Estrada's motion and seconded by Ronald dela Rosa, Morales was ordered detained for flipped-flopped replies on PDS, inter alia.

[353] In August 2024, San Fernando, Pampanga Municipal Trial Court Branch 9 Acting Presiding Judge Jason Alquiroz convicted Morales of perjury and sentenced him to four months imprisonment and fined ₱1,000.