Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LEO M. SABANGAN II
BAGUIO CITY—Addressing a local Rotary Club whose members had earlier endorsed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for president, vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Friday, “I can work with any president.”
Both Duterte and Marcos have been leading recent surveys on presidential and vice presidential candidates.
But on Saturday, at Saint Louis University (SLU) here, Marcos made a strong pitch for his running mate, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Santiago has been ranking a far fifth, or last, in presidential preference surveys.
Many Rotarians at the Friday meeting had “Dumar” (Duterte-Marcos) T-shirts on, prompting Marcos to say: “When I get elected vice president, the first thing I would do is go to the president and tell him or her I am ready to work with you.”
“Elections polarize people because we make them choose between that person or myself. It is a divisive exercise. But after the exercise, we should find ways to work together,” he said.
Marcos said Santiago was his running mate “because we agree on so many things.”
Duterte, he added, was “also a friend and we agree on many things, too.”
Marcos described Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas, who ranks third or fourth in the surveys, as “a friend and cousin of my wife (lawyer Louise Araneta, who teaches at SLU College of Law).”
Friday was the couple’s wedding anniversary so Marcos informed the Rotarians he intended to surprise his wife at night class.
Marcos described Vice President Jejomar Binay, whose falling numbers have taken him also to third or fourth in the surveys, as a “natural ally” because of his roots in the north.
‘Just kidding’
“Poe is my sister,” Marcos said, shocking his audience. But he quickly took it back. “Media might again start asking me if that old rumor is true, that I am admitting she is my sibling. Come on, I am just kidding,” he said.
Marcos said his campaign was centered on uniting Filipinos.
“It’s not fair to voters if we turn the election into a teleserye [and] destroy other candidates rather than talk about programs and platforms,” he said.
On Saturday, outside the SLU campus, human rights victims and activists put up giant tarpaulins announcing “Never Again to Martial Law.”
But no one booed when Marcos entered the SLU campus. He spent almost 30 minutes with the students, who took selfies that were quickly posted online.
Santiago has missed many provincial sorties, but when she walked into the SLU gymnasium, the students cheered loudly. Marcos introduced Santiago as “the intelligent choice for president.”
Santiago said the country was being run by managers, not leaders, whose sole task was to heed the dictates of “a firm of billionaires who want laws that protect their interests and who decide how to create jobs.”
She added: “We are running for real change, not cosmetic change. A leader should be an example of what he or she is seeking. Inspire vision. You must lead the people to a good place where we have not been before.”