Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president Wednesday, but acknowledged that plans to adopt President Rodrigo Duterte as his vice presidential running mate fell through after the Chief Executive announced he was retiring from politics.
Marcos, who is running under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, said he is open to a possible tandem with Sen. Christopher Go, the vice presidential candidate of PDP-Laban.
“I’d be very candid with you,” Marcos said. “The reason why no one filed for vice president under PFP is this – the original plan was for us to adopt [President Duterte] for our vice presidential candidate, but because of the scenario last Saturday we changed our plan and we will consult the party… So that is where it is now.”
“How will we be called just in case? Bongbong-Bong?” Marcos said as he acknowledged that a partnership with Go may be forged in the coming days. “Bong to the third power? Maybe it is possible. We’ll see.”
Marcos was accompanied by his wife, Liza Araneta and his two sons Ferdinand Alexander and Joseph Simon when he filed his COC at the Harbor Garden Tent at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City.
In a Facebook live stream, Marcos on Tuesday announced his plan to run for president in next year’s election after taking his oath as a member of the PFP, a political party allied with the Duterte administration.
In seeking the highest elective office in the land, said he could heal the politically divided, economically ractured, and pandemic-plagued country.
“Join me in this noblest of causes, and we will succeed,” Marcos, popularly known as “Bongbong” and more recently, BBM, said in a three-minute speech.
Marcos said the global pandemic, the Philippines’ greatest test in history, has taught Filipinos that they always need one another during these trying times.
“We must face the challenge as one, as one country, as one people. Together we must work towards a shared vision of our country through COVID and beyond COVID to find a way through this crisis with a common goal of vision to guide us and to lead us,” he said.
“I know that it is this manner of unifying leadership that can lead us through this crisis,” Marcos said.
Marcos said he would come up with a list of senatorial candidates in the next few days.
PFP earlier endorsed Marcos for the 2022 presidential race on Sept. 21, the anniversary of the declaration of martial law by his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was toppled by the People Power revolt.
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), the party founded by his father, also nominated Marcos as its presidential candidate in next year’s elections.
In August, the former senator said he would run for president if he could muster enough support.
Marcos lost the 2016 vice presidential race to then-Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo by 263,473 votes. He protested his defeat before the Supreme Court, which eventually ruled in Robredo’s favor.