The Marcos family will not “revise history” following the victory of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. but will share their side of the story “the best we can,” his sister Sen. Imee Marcos said Wednesday.
The senator, two years older than “BBM,” also did not rule out the Marcos government working with outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, whom Marcos Jr. defeated by a landslide in the May 9 elections.
The senator, eldest among the children of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and former first lady Imelda Marcos, earlier thanked the public for giving their family a “second chance.”
In an interview on ANC Headstart, she said: “I don’t think that’s our effort at all, we will not revise anything, all we will do is to also make known, make public what we know our side of the story which we have perhaps been remiss in not telling simply because we were scared of the traditional media, of all the abuse, diatribes, the insults.”
As for a collaboration with Robredo, the standard bearer of the opposition in the recent polls, the senator said: “Everything is possible… that was what my mother (Imelda Marcos) has been saying.”
“They [Marcos Jr. and Robredo] can also become allies. I think this is what we need to do,” she added.
Robredo had edged out Marcos Jr. in the 2016 vice presidential race.
Sen. Marcos underscored the importance of setting aside “all recriminations and bitterness” from the elections to “move forward” by choosing the “best and the brightest” for the country.
“I’ve also spoken of a second chance and the truth is, sometimes, a second chance is better than the first time around because you learned your mistakes from the first time,” the senator, who was elected in 2019, said.
“And it’s a second chance, not only for my family, as it were or for my father and the revisiting of his legacy, but more importantly it’s a second chance for the country,” she added.
The senator earlier proposed forming a “team of rivals” for the incoming Cabinet of his brother’s administration.
“In the beginning, we discussed that it should be ‘Uniteam,’ and I coined that Uniteam moniker for the campaign. But it’s not a mere slogan, it’s a real platform of government. It’s a real management and action program,” she said.
“So, it’s important that we carry through with the team of rivals in the classic and revered manner of the late great (American) President Abraham Lincoln—inviting all his rivals to the Cabinet,” the senator said.
According to Imee, they started with an even playing field, accepting all those Filipino who are willing to serve and are capable of giving their best to our country.
“So, it’s a second chance for the Philippines,” she said.
Marcos said she would “continue to work with the new administration to make sure the poorest of the poor get their fair share.”
“I’m very committed to mitigating, even ending poverty, it’s ambitious in these times but I’m one of those people who believe extreme hunger and poverty can be ended in our lifetime,” she said.
“I’m not giving up and I have 31 million votes behind the Marcos family that seem to believe the same thing.”