MALACAÑANG has dismissed as nonsense Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s claim that the administration has been harassing local government officials to prevent them from openly supporting his vice presidential bid.
“I don’t know what to make of Senator Marcos’ statement. Does he mean he has a phantom army, that these are incorporeal beings? I don’t know what he’s talking about and it makes absolutely no sense,” said Undersecretary Manolo Quezon of the Presidential Communications Group.
At a campaign sortie in Laguna on Thursday, Marcos said political party leaders were pressuring some local government officials not to attend or facilitate his events.
“I don’t want to put our quiet supporters in a tight spot, but they are plenty. They have been asked by their political bosses (to support me),” said Marcos.
Quezon said he was hoping that Marcos’ statement was “garbled in translation.”
“It’s hard to argue about something that may or may not exist,” he said.
The latest voter preference survey for vice president places Marcos in a virtual tie with front-runner Sen. Francis Escudero.
Quezon said he did not believe there was a demolition campaign against Marcos, explaining the rise in anti-Marcos news and comments in recent weeks as merely coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Edsa People Power revolt which forced the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family to flee the country in 1986.
“I believe there are a lot of people interested in setting the record straight on martial law. At the end of the day, the public will decide if Senator Marcos should be elected. Everyone who was affected by martial law and those who believe in our democracy have the right to ensure that our countrymen know the truth,” he said.
Just like Marcos who adamantly refuses to acknowledge the wrongdoings of his father, Quezon said Vice President Jejomar Binay has also made it his strategy to evade questions on his alleged ill-gotten wealth and corruption as mere propaganda and part of the campaign mudslinging.
But Binay cannot just dismiss lingering questions on the overpriced Makati Parking Building and the Hacienda Binay in Batangas as part of a demolition job, he said.