FORMER Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has formally launched his presidential bid in the 2022 Philippine national elections.
Accompanied by his wife Louise and two sons, Marcos filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president on Wednesday, October 6, around 11 a.m. at the Harbor Garden Tent of Sofitel hotel in Pasay City.
He filed his candidacy under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), but noted that his party has yet to name his running mate.
According to Marcos, they initially planned to adopt President Rodrigo Duterte as a vice presidential candidate, but it was scrapped after the chief executive announced his retirement from politics next year.
“As of now, no one has filed for vice president under PFP. To be very candid with you, the reason why is that the original plan was for us to adopt [Duterte] for our vice presidential candidate,” he said after filing his COC.
“Pero sa mga nangyari noong nakaraang Sabado, nagbago lahat ng plano. Kaya’t ngayon, nagkokonsulta kami, ‘yung partido at syempre lahat ng mga ating ibang mga kasamahan na kung anong dapat gawin (But after everything that happened on Saturday, the plan changed. That’s why we are currently in consultation, the party and, of course, all of our members, on what to do),” he added.
On Saturday, Oct. 2, Duterte announced that he was retiring from politics, citing the public sentiment as his reason for withdrawing his vice presidential bid.
When asked if he’s willing to team up with Senator Bong Go, who recently filed his COC for vice president under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), Marcos said it’s not impossible.
“Baka pwede rin, we’ll see, lahat naman siguro tayo nagulat sa mga pangyayari noong Sabado (Maybe, we’ll see, we were all surprised by what happened on Saturday), so we have to determine what the effects of all of that will be, not only on me, but also the rest of the candidates in our party specifically,” he said.
As for a possible rematch with Vice President Leni Robredo in the race for the country’s top post, Marcos said he isn’t fighting her.
“I don’t have any fight with VP Leni. I am running for president, I am not fighting against anyone… I would not file my COC if I was not ready to campaign, if I was not ready to answer all your questions. I am ready to answer your questions and I am ready to campaign,” he said.
In 2016, Marcos lost the vice presidential race to Robredo, who was ahead of him by over 200,000 votes.
He later filed an electoral protest against her, but it was dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).
Robredo is expected to announce her election plans on Thursday, Oct. 7.
On Tuesday, Oct. 5, Marcos announced that he was running for president.
In a pre-recorded video he said: “I am today announcing my intention to run for the presidency of the Philippines in the upcoming May 2022 elections. I will bring that form of unifying leadership back to our country.”
He also said that the Philippines “must face” the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic “as one.”
“I know that it’s this manner of unifying leadership that can lead us through this crisis, get our people safely back to work for all of us to begin to live our lives once again,” he added.
