Bongbong Marcos ‘keeps his options open’ for 2016 elections

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (Photo from Marcos’ official website)

MANILA – With the national elections nearing, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been speculated to be among those possible to join the presidential race.

Marcos, for his part, admitted that he did not completely shun the odds of him seeking higher office in next year’s national elections.

“Maybe yes, maybe not. I am keeping my options open,” Marcos said during the Kapihan sa Manila on Monday at the Diamond Hotel.

When asked if a Marcos-Poe tandem was possible in 2016, Marcos only took the matter lightly and shared that he and Senator Grace Poe were even rumored to be siblings.

“We have come to accept that… In fact, in the Senate, I call her ‘sis’ and she calls me ‘kuya’ (brother),” Marcos said.

When asked about updates on the substitute bill he was working on with regards to the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Marcos took the matter more seriously and said that he would be submitting it to the Senate soon. Pending its submission, the senator disclosed that the new bill did not have the unconstitutional provisions from the original bill.

Marcos clarified that his Senate committee decided to make a substitute bill because they believed that should the old bill be submitted, it may only be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

It can be recalled that the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) earlier signed an agreement which was later on declared unconstitutional by the High Court.

Marcos pointed out that his committee was carefully reviewing the BBL, citing one provision in the original bill that Mindanaoans disapproved of.

The said provision was that the regions, provinces and cities not included in the Bangsamoro government would be allowed to file petitions to be included in it as long as 10 percent of the registered voters in the seeking area would approve of the inclusion.

“We have already voted twice against inclusion in two plebiscites… “Why include us in a petition by a mere 10 percent of the voters? That’s no democracy where the majority rules,” Mindanaoan protesters said in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.

“What’s more, the petition for inclusion can be made again and again every year. There will be a ‘creeping encroachment’ by the Bangsamoro on contiguous territories that have already voted against inclusion in plebiscites,” the protesters added.