TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines?The only son and namesake of former president Ferdinand Marcos has plans to run again for the Senate in 2010, some 15 years after his first failed senatorial bid.
Bongbong's sister Imee confirmed this during a brief interview with her Tuesday afternoon.
"Well, he is planning to run for the Senate. He is seriously mulling about it," according to Imee, who was in the city to join 120th fiesta celebration of Tacloban City.
She said their family hoped that her brother, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ilocos Norte's second district, would no longer experience defeat due to the "dagdag bawas" (vote shaving-padding) scheme that took place in the 1995 elections.
However, Imee would not say under what political coalition Bongbong would run except to hint that he might join the Nacionalista Party headed by Senator Manny Villar, one of the guests of Sangyaw Festival, an activity for the city's festival.
Imee described Villar as a "friend" as she noted that the Nacionalista Party was once her father's political party before he set up the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), during martial law.
Asked if the family would be supporting Villar's presidential bid, Imee said that they were still determining whom to support for the presidency.
"But he is a friend and he is a Nacionalista," she said of Villar.
However, Imee?s cousin, Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez, already announced his support for Villar's 2010 presidential bid before the city's more than 1,000 village officials during the Tuesday meeting held at the Balyu-an Ampitheater.
In explaining his support for Villar, Romualdez pointed to the presidential contender?s leadership of the Nacionalista Party, which used to have a strong base in Leyte.
Meanwhile, Imee said on Tuesday she had no political plans for the 2010 elections. She described herself as "retired" from politics and insisted that she has been focused on animation and independent filmmaking.
Imee represented Ilocos Norte in the House of Representatives for three terms.
