An impostor? The Commission on Elections is urged to investigate.
MANILA, Philippines — A petitioner seeking to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has claimed that the latter isn’t really the son of the late dictator, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday.
Tiburcio Marcos claimed in a petition that the real Marcos Jr. allegedly died, and the person who filed his COC is an alleged impostor.
“For Tiburcio, the principal petition raised was identity, something to the effect that BBM is not BBM, it’s not the real guy,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a press briefing on Thursday.
In his vlog in May, Bongbong already addressed the urban legend that the “real” Marcos Jr. is dead.
The urban legend goes that Marcos Jr. was stabbed and died during a scuffle while studying abroad. The Marcos family allegedly looked for Bongbong’s look-alike to replace him.
The former senator belied the urban legend: “Pero sa totoo lang po talaga, ako ito, dahil kung tignan naman po ninyo, sa buong kasaysayan ng buhay ko, nasa publiko tayo … kaya wag po kayong mag-alala ako po ito.”
(For real, this is me, as you can see, for the entire history of my life, I was in the public eye. So don’t worry, this is me.)
Tiburcio Marcos is also running for president in the upcoming elections.
His petition, meanwhile, was now raffled to the Comelec second division, along with two other petitions seeking to stop Marcos Jr’s candidacy.
Aside from this one, there are four other petitions against Marcos’ candidacy: two other petitioners want to cancel his COC, one wants him disqualified, while another wants him to be declared as a nuisance candidate.
‘Nuisance candidate’
On October 13, Bongbong Marcos asked the Comelec to declare his fellow presidential candidate Tiburcio Marcos a nuisance candidate for being confusing to voters, not intending to run for president, and mocking the election process.
He believes Tiburcio lacks experience in public administration and does not have any known platforms to demonstrate its true intentions, alleging that his rival simply uses the election process for personal gain and other unknown purposes.
St. Luke’s defends Marcos drug test
Also on Thursday, St. Luke’s Medical Center dispelled doubts about its drug tests after Marcos Jr. took a cocaine test at its branch in Taguig City.
Some internet posts and social media comments accused the hospital of fakery regarding the branch format and location.
“The format of the printed test result is standard and common among all healthcare facilities authorized by the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct dangerous drug tests,” it said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
“Regarding the mention of Bgy. Ususan as our location, this is because that is the only available location in DOH Integrated Drug Test Operation Management Information System when St. Luke’s Medical Center – Global City was accredited in 2010,” it added.
The hospital advised the public not to post “misleading and inaccurate” information on social media in an advisory.
“St. Luke’s calls on everyone to verify the information they receive from others and the information they plan to post online,” it added.
Marcos’ camp was the first to insist on the validity of the drug test results, urging critics not to drag other prominent institutions into their attempt to smear Bongbong.
READ: Marcos camp to critics: Don’t drag other institutions in bid to discredit Bongbong
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