Former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and an ex-national police chief on Wednesday formally registered their bids to replace the country’s President Rodrigo Duterte.
Marcos Jr, popularly called by his nickname Bongbong, and Senator Panfilo Lacson, who was national police chief from 1999 to 2001, were the third and fourth big names to join the presidential race for May 2022 elections.
They fist-bumped each other as they filed their papers for candidacy with the Commission on Elections within minutes.
Marcos, 64, who lost the vice presidential race in 2016, said he does not have a running mate yet because his political party had planned to adopt Duterte as their candidate.
But 76-year-old Duterte, whose six-year term as president ends in June 2022, on Saturday said he decided to drop his plan to run for vice president after surveys showed most Filipinos believed the candidacy would violate the constitution.
Marcos declined to address questions about allegations of human rights abuses and corruption during his father’s 20-year regime and stressed these had nothing to do with his vow to be a unifying president.
“In my view, all those questions have been answered. We unify now in the face of the Coronavirus crisis, in the face of the economic crisis.
“That is what I’m talking about when I say unifying leadership,” he said.
It would be Lacson’s second run for the presidency. In 2004, the 73-year-old legislator finished third in a five-way race that former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo won amid allegations of widespread fraud.
As national police chief, Lacson was credited for fighting kidnapping for ransom, which was rampant in the late 1990s.
But he was also accused of extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals.
Lacson’s vice presidential runningmate Senate President Vicente Sotto, a former comedian and actor who has been a legislator since 1992 was a top contender in the vice presidential race.
Lacson said he and Sotto would work to restore public trust in government and run a “disciplined bureucracy” to ensure that progress reaches all corners of the country if they win.
“We have never accepted a bribe in exchange for public service.
“We remain free of corruption and that will be our most effective weapon to dismantle the syndicates inside and outside of government,” Lacson said.
Marcos was ranked second most popular among 12 possible presidential contenders in a nationwide survey conducted earlier in the month by Pulse Asia Research Inc Lacson trailed behind in seventh place.
The survey was topped by the daughter of incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who registered for re-election on the weekend.
Former boxing icon and current Senator Manny Pacquiao and Manila City Mayor Francisco Domagoso, popularly known by his screen name Isko Moreno, have already formally registered their intention to run for president.
There could be more changes to come as Vice President Leni Robredo was being urged by the opposition to run, and she was expected to make an announcement on her decision on Thursday.
Robredo earlier called for a coalition with Domagoso, Pacquiao and Lacson, but talks have failed to unify an opposition against the ruling party, PDP-Laban.
The ruling party has yet to announce a presidential candidate.
(NAN)