MANILA ━ Former senator Bongbong Marcos Jr. announced that he is planning to be president of the Philippines, only a few years after he failed to become the country’s vice president.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the younger Marcos said he is aspiring to get the government’s top post.
“My career is politics, and, of course, you aspire to as high a stature within your chosen field as you can achieve — and that would be president in my case,” he said.
Marcos said he will build a “more egalitarian system of government.”
“In my father’s administration, I kept hearing ‘nation-building’, and I do not hear that phrase anymore,” he said.
“It’s more politicking than nation-building,” Marcos added.
He was also quick to dismiss corruption allegations against his family, saying: “None of the cases that were filed against us have been won.”
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Martial law under regime of former president Ferdinand Marcos was marked with corruption and atrocities with at least 3,257 people killed and some 35,000 others tortured.
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The Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth is estimated to have reach $10 billion, according to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). Only P170 billion has been recovered in 30 years.
The younger Marcos is currently involved in an electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo, after she defeated him in the 2016 vice-presidential race by 263,473 votes.
In his protest, Marcos contested the results in 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities.
The Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, is currently holding a manual recount of votes from Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental, the three pilot provinces chosen by Marcos which cover 5,418 clustered precincts.
The result of the manual recount will determine whether the protest will proceed. (Source: ABS-CBN News)