‘A little spoiled, well-attended to’ – Marcos Jr. on Palace life

Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (Photo from his office)

MANILA, Philippines — “What did I like about it? You were a little spoiled, especially as a kid,” presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said about his life in Malacañang Palace when his father was still the president.

Marcos Jr. said he was only seven years old when his family moved into the Palace shortly after his father, Ferdinand Sr., won the 1965 presidential election.

“You always have to be, at the very least, presentable because the minute you leave the room, you do not know who’s going to be there. There have been many times that I came out of my room and I would come across a president who was on a state visit with my father,” Marcos said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino, in an interview with CNN Philippines on Tuesday.

“We were still small, but you get used to it… It was nice. What did I like about it? You were a little spoiled, especially as a kid. You were very well attended to. You were very well cared for,” he added.

Marcos admitted, however,  that it was an “unusual” set-up.

“When you’re a child, you think your life, even if it’s different, is normal — that all people live like that,” he said. “But we soon learned very quickly because we have friends and we go to their homes.  We would travel and we would see that we were living in a different place. We were living in a palace.”

Marcos said he would most likely stay in Malacañang if elected as the next president, but he added he had not really thought about it.

“I won’t live outside of the Palace because the office is right there. So you cannot be too far away. All the facilities, the communications are all there. It’s your office and you cannot really be very far away,” he said.

Bongbong Marcos is the second child of Ferdinand Sr. with former First Lady Imelda Marcos, the eldest being Sen. Imee Marcos.

Ferdinand Sr. served as the president from 1965 until he was ousted in February 1986 during the EDSA People Power Revolution.

He was succeeded by Corazon Aquino, the mother of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who would also serve as president from 2010 to 2016.

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