SENATOR Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared Monday he will run for vice president in 2016 and will support Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte if he decides to run for President.
In a statement posted on his website, Marcos also ruled out a team-up with presidential aspirant Vice President Jejomar Binay because of “political differences.”
“All this talk of teaming up with certain leading presidential candidates have been mere speculation,” Marcos said.
Marcos announced his intention to run hours after President Benigno Aquino III declared that Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo would be the running mate of Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II.
Marcos’ announcement brought to six the number of aspirants for the vice presidency.
Aside from Marcos and Robredo , Senators Francis Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes, and Gringo Honasan are also seeking the same post.
Escudero is running with Senator Grace Poe, while Honasan is considering a run with Binay.
At the moment, Marcos, Cayetano and Trillanes, who all belong to the Nacionalista Party, are running without a presidential candidate.
In a statement issued Monday night, Marcos said he flew to Davao City and consulted with Duterte.
“He was gracious enough to promise me his support should I decide to run for vice president. I too will support Mayor Duterte if and when he runs for President,” Marcos said.
Marcos said he had been invited to be Binay’s vice presidential running mate.
“There were initial talks between our supporters. But any team up with the vice president must be rooted on a shared vision for our country, a common platform of government as well as political perspectives,” said Marcos, the only son of the late President Ferdinand Marcos and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos.
“Unfortunately it would be difficult for me to tame our political differences,” Marcos said.
“Elected officials have an obligation to our people to help change the course of our nation’s history by banishing the politics of personality which to me is one of the primary causes our country today has become a soft state where the rich become richer, the poor become poorer, graft and corruption is endemic, the drug menace pervades, injustice is the norm and government incompetence is the new normal.
“Consequently, I have decided to put my political fortune in the hands of the Filipino people,” he said.
“I humbly ask them to judge whether or not I am worthy of their trust to be vice president on the strength of my performance as a public servant in the last 26 years: first as former vice governor and governor of Ilocos Norte, then as representative of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte and, finally, as senator of the country,” said Marcos.
Cayetano said Monday he believed Duterte would run for president because he cannot resist the clamor of the people.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of World Teachers’ Day at the Cuneta Astrodome, Cayetano said Duterte asked for more time and soul searching.
“It’s not easy to decide, to take a leap of faith for national office,” he said.
He expressed hope that Duterte would come to “the right decision.”
“It’s not the party who will drive him to run but the people. It’s not the surveys but the people who are pushing him to run. You go to a restaurant and six of 10 people are calling for Mayor Duterte to run. So there is a genuine clamor for him to run,” said Cayetano.
The 70-year-old Davao mayor had earlier announced that he would not run for President due to his age and absence of resources.
Cayetano, along with his sister, Senator Pia Cayetano, met Duterte in Davao City last Tuesday night to convince him to run for president.
It was also in Davao City where Cayetano announced that he will run for vice president in the coming elections.
“It’s really his choice. All we can do is hope and pray he has the best partner. I said the partner is worth waiting for,” Cayetano said.
Cayetano added that he would support Duterte even if he did not pick him as his running mate.