Marcos says he decided to run because rivals' COVID-19, economy platforms were lacking
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who is running on his “unity” campaign for COVID-19 recovery, found other aspirants’ pandemic programs lacking, which prompted him to run in the elections.
In his The Chatroom interview with Erwin Tulfo and Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, Marcos said he listened to other candidates’ platforms but he deemed these not well-thought-out.
“Yung nakita ko ‘yung ibang tatakbo, nakikinig ako sa kanila, sabi ko, hindi yata napag-isipan nang mabuti ‘yung kanilang sinasabing plataporma o plano para sa COVID at para sa ekonomiya,” he said.
(When I saw others who are running, I was listening to them, I said, I think they did not think through these, their platforms or plans for COVID and for the economy.)
When he first announced his bid for presidency in October, Marcos presented himself to “bring that form of unifying leadership back to our country.”
And since then, unity has been a staple in all his campaign speeches.
During his grand proclamation rally in February, Marcos said he believes that it is his sincere belief that unity is the first step to recover from crisis.
In one of his chosen interviews, Marcos said his COVID-19 response program is dubbed “jab to job.” Meaning, get jabbed against the coronavirus and get the people back to their jobs.
The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard-bearer also said if he gets elected, he will promote regional health units or RHUs, where clustered barangays would have clinics.
These RHUs, he said, may address check-ups for other health problems like stomachache, cough, cold, asthma. This would not entail patients to travel far to go to bigger hospitals, he added.
Administration bet
Marcos also said he decided to run after he looked at the political situation.
“Pumanig lahat sa oposisyon. Nakapanig ako sa admin. Kung ako yung andun, siguro, kaya na natin ipaglaban ito. Kaya at some point, sabi ko, I’ll go ahead and run for presidency,” he added
(All went to opposition. I am allied with the administration. If I were there, maybe, we can fight for this. So at some point, I said, I’ll go ahead and run for presidency.)
In November, Marcos’ team sang a different tune.
Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ spokesperson, said in November that changes in the political landscape have made it inaccurate to say the PFP-bet is an ally of Duterte administration.
In October, President Rodrigo Duterte filed to be a substitute for senator and picked Sen. Bong Go as his anointed one. Both have since withdrawn their bids.
At that time, Duterte also said he never mentioned he would support Marcos, claiming without giving evidence that the former senator is "pro-communist." Duterte also made a blind item of a presidential candidate who is a cocaine user, but Marcos felt he did not allude to.
Marcos has not hidden their desire to still have Duterte’s endorsement for his presidential bid, but the chief executive has yet to name whose candidacy he will back, less than two months before the elections.
Marcos is running with Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, presidential daughter, as his vice presidential pick.
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