SENATOR Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed confidence Sunday that he will take his vice presidential seat soon after accusing the Liberal Party of massive cheating to hand victory to his rival, Vice President-elect Leni Robredo.
“I will eventually take my seat that is being kept warm for me,” Marcos declared in a press conference over the weekend.
Marcos vowed to show “the true results” of the elections and said he would be honored to serve the incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, should he be given the opportunity.
“I am at heart a public servant and if I am called to duty in any way whatsoever it is an honor for me to serve, in any capacity wherein this coming government, the incoming President will feel that I can contribute, I will be happy to do that,” Marcos said.
Marcos also said he assured Duterte that the electoral protest he will file on June 28 would not affect the results of the presidential race in any way.
While Duterte did not say he believed Marcos was cheated, he did say that he knew there was cheating during the last elections, the senator said.
Marcos maintained that the cheating carried out in the May 9 elections was massive and unprecedented because it had become institutionalized.
In a press conference at Annabel’s Restaurant in Quezon City, his first after the May 9 elections, Marcos said that while he expected there would be irregularities in the polls, he did not expect it to be as flagrant as it was.
Marcos said he owes it to the more than 14 million people who voted for him as well as to those whose votes were not counted because what is at stake is the integrity of the elections.
He said about 3 million votes have not been counted.
He directly accused President Benigno Aquino III’s administration and the Liberal Party through the Commission on Elections and service provider Smartmatic of perpetuating the massive fraud.
“Well, we see that the problems were with Comelec and the problems were with Smartmatic. Now who was behind all of that? I think we will slowly be able to show that, because the only people who can institutionalize this kind of cheating is the administration,” he said.
“It is very clear to the people that there was a widespread and shameful disregard of their voice, so we will continue this fight,” he said in Filipino.
Asked for details of his more than three-hour meeting with Duterte in Davao City early Friday, Marcos said his role in the incoming administration was only discussed “in a general way” because it was not the reason for the meeting.
He also denied there were talks on a Cabinet position for him, saying they discussed Duterte’s plans to solve the drug problem.
He said he decided to meet the incoming President to personally thank him for his support to his family, especially his decision to allow the burial of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
He also said he believed that burying his father at the Libingan ng Bayani will bring closure to partisan politics rather than cause further divisions.
“I think it will bring closure not only to my family but to the rest of the country. This is something that has somehow been in the consciousness of the Filipino people, a continuing partisan exchange that has been going on for over 30 years, which can finally be put to rest. And I think that that is the significance of the statement of incoming President Duterte,” Marcos said.
The senator said his legal team is confident that they have enough evidence to establish massive fraud in the elections.
He said so many people were coming forward to attest to the cheating that they had to pick which ones to include in their protest.
Marcos said the cheating was so widespread that it covered all aspects of the elections.
“Certainly, we didn’t expect cheating on this scale, where it was institutionalized at many, may levels, in many, many ways,” Marcos said.
The senator said the cheating was not only limited to vote buying but also covered wholesale ballot shading and tampering with the transmission system, all of which they could prove.
The Palace described as “totally false and baseless” Marcos’ allegations.
“Instead of innuendoes, let the accuser present concrete proof in the proper forum,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a text message.
“What the President said during the campaign period [especially during the Edsa commemoration] was that the people need to close ranks to prevent the return of dictatorship in our land,” Coloma said.
Earlier, Marcos recalled that President Benigno Aquino III vowed to do everything he could to stamp out the political comeback of the Marcos family.
During the campaign period, Aquino would often direct his speeches against Marcos. With Sandy Araneta
