The images of a besuited Ferdinand Marcos Jr, clad in a top hat and leaning nonchalantly on a Rolls-Royce, dating from his time in Britain in the 1970s, are as you might expect from the playboy scion of a kleptocratic dictator.
Yet as the Marcos family returns to power in the Philippines after a landslide presidential victory by Marcos Jr, he is facing calls to stop misrepresenting the circumstances of his studies at the University of Oxford.
The university has confirmed that he did not complete his degree in philosophy, politics and economics after enrolling in 1975.
Photo: Reuters
“According to our records, he did not complete his degree, but was awarded a special diploma in social studies in 1978,” the University of Oxford said in a response to a freedom of information request lodged by a UK-based Philippine supporter of Marcos Jr’s nearest rival in last week’s election.
Marcos Jr, nicknamed “Bongbong,” has claimed in interviews that Oxford issued him with a bachelor’s degree, while his official spokesperson has said that the politician and his team “stand by the degree confirmation which was issued by the University of Oxford.”
His Web site states: “He completed his undergraduate studies at Oxford University and graduated with a special diploma in social studies.”
However, the UK-based supporter of Marcos Jr’s rival Leni Robredo, who lodged the freedom of information request, said of Marcos Jr: “He should stop misrepresenting his special diploma, which is clearly not a degree. It’s clear he did not complete undergraduate studies.”
The issue of Marcos Jr’s Oxford degree first emerged seven years ago when his profile on the Web site for the Philippines Senate stated that he had obtained an Oxford degree in philosophy, politics and economics.
Newly published letters last year revealed that the envoys for his father had lobbied senior figures at the university’s St Edmund Hall to preserve the son’s academic career after he failed examinations on a number of occasions.
Previously published documents revealed that Marcos Jr failed two of his three preliminary exams at Oxford in the summer of 1976, later doing only enough to pass one of two resits — failing politics for a second time.
Discussions followed between emissaries of Ferdinand Marcos Sr and John Kelly, the principal of St Edmund Hall, who was asked if they could “think of any special circumstances which would warrant the college departing from its normal rule.”
A deal was eventually hammered out in which Marcos Jr was allowed to continue his studies, but was transferred to a special diploma in social sciences, a program that has since been discontinued.
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