Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
To be recognized as the “great defender of the Constitution” was something that Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself found “quite ironic.”
But the “greater irony,” Marcos said, was that it was he who has become the “great defender” of the “Cory Constitution.”
The senator was referring to late President Corazon Aquino, who was swept into power by a people power revolt that ousted his father, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos.
“When Justice Lazaro told me that I would be receiving an award for being “the great defender of the Constitution” I found this quite ironic,” Marcos said when he addressed the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) at the Manila Hotel Tuesday.
Lazaro is Justice Manuel Lazaro, chairman of Philconsa. The president of Philconsa is Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, who happens to be the cousin of Senator Marcos.
“First, that a non-lawyer would be accorded such a singular and, I must admit, flattering honor. Second, the greater irony is that it is Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that has become the “great defender” of the Cory Constitution!” Senator Marcos said.
“I can almost hear my father looking down upon these proceedings, scratching his head and asking: How did that happen?” he added.
READ: Aquino wanted to avenge pa’s murder
The senator then used the occasion to talk about the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which he opposed in its present form and substance.
READ: Marcos: BBL will lead us to perdition
As chairman of the Senate committee on local government, Senator Marcos is the one leading the BBL hearings in the upper chamber.
“It is fitting that this visit with Philconsa should be an important part of this consultation effort, because your Association, throughout its 53-year history, has been steadfast and unwavering in preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of our Republic,” he said.
It was Philconsa that questioned the constitutionality of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), which serve as the basis of the BBL.
“When I saw some of your number on TV – holding the petition you filed in the Supreme Court, I thought to myself, “What a telegenic group of lawyers!” After reading the petition you filed, I told myself, “They’re not only telegenic, they’re right!” said the senator.
“Your initiative, joined by others, is an inestimable service to the nation, because on these agreements rest the administration’s ambitious enterprise of creating a new Bangsamoro political entity or sub-state. With a favorable resolution from the high court, I see the possibility of our society vaulting over the divisions over this issue,” he further said. IDL