To help its readers make informed decisions on election day, INQUIRER.net organized a series of individual interviews with the candidates and fielded questions from social media and chat apps.
INQUIRER.net last week sat down with Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to discuss his position as a frontrunner in the vice presidential race and to address accusations hurled against him and his family.
READ: Candidate — Bongbong Marcos
Marcos, son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, reportedly has a strong showing in Northern Luzon, the bailiwick of his family. This is despite being hit by his fellow candidates for his family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.
In this interview with INQUIRER.net Editor in Chief John Nery and Chief of Reporters Kristine Sabillo last April 27, the senator and his son Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos talked about the controversies surrounding their family. Marcos also shared his stand on various issues, including political dynasties.
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
John Nery: Tonight we resume our series of interviews of the candidates for vice president. My name is John Nery, editor in chief of INQUIRER.net. It is my happy task to serve as your co-moderator for this evening. I will be joined by the Chief of Reporters of INQUIRER.net, she will also be doing hosting duties, Miss Tine Sabillo. Our guest tonight is the front-runner in the vice presidential race, vice presidential candidate and Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. better known as Senator Bong. Senator, welcome to INQUIRER.net and to our cozy little set.
Bongbong Marcos: Maraming salamat. Thank you very much. Happy to be here.
JN: We are live on Facebook. We are live on Youtube, from the Inquirer News Channel. We are also live on INQUIRER.net itself, the country’s leading news website. We are carried in the chat apps space, as well. We are live on Line, we are also carried live on Viber, on WeChat, on FireChat, as well as Kakao. We are also on Twitter. You can follow us @inquirerdotnet and @team_inquirer. Tonight we are covered by the Philippine Daily Inquirer of course, as well as Inquirer Bandera, Radyo Inquirer, and INQUIRER.net. We will be on a slightly delayed-broadcast basis on Radyo Inquirer 990AM.
Senator, just a quick word about our format: we have three rounds of questions. Our first round will begin with questions sourced from our audiences on social media, after which we will have chance to ask follow-up questions. So every round is like that. In the third round, thanks to you, we will tweak our format a bit, we will invite your eldest son, Sandro, to join us in the third round to answer more questions. We are looking at around one hour and five minutes. We will end at around 7 p.m. I hope that alright with you.
BBM: That’s fine with me.
JN: And one last thing, actually this is an appeal to the audience, you will see Tine and me consulting our phones from time to time. We are not being rude, we are listening very intently to Senator Marcos, but this is the way we get and receive and read your questions through our phones. So please, bear with us as we read our phones from time to time. Okay, so I think we are ready to roll. Senator, the first question is from Bulastog, his handle on Twitter is @limiricfire11. “Bongbong Marcos, since you and Digong are leading in surveys, what would a Duterte-Marcos leadership mean in case he won?”
BBM: Well, I hope, whatever, whoever, if I am elected vice president, I hope whoever the president might be, that it will be a leadership of partnership. I think it is very important that we establish – from the very beginning – a partnership amongst the different sectors of the society. And an example that needs to be shown is between the president and the vice president, especially if they are from different parties. Because in my view, that has been, in fact, my message throughout this campaign. Beyond the programs and policies I’d like to propose, is the need for national unity. And again that is something I feel is necessary, if we were to move the country forward.
We cannot move the country if we are factionalized, if there is too much in fighting, if it’s all politics. If it’s all politics, then we are stuck there. Hindi na tayo makakaabante. Hindi na tayo aahon. So that would be what I would work towards. I have been ask what if you have – you are elected vice president. And the president is not from you party or is not your partner. Then I said, the first I would do is, if I am voted as the vice president, the first thing I will do is to go to the president and say, “I’m here, as your partner in progress for the country.” I truly believe that that is an important part. Secondly, the part that I think is important is to return excellence in governance. We have suffered under the mediocrity of governance, I think it’s now time to return the excellence in governance. People who are talented; people who have experience, who know their job, who are effective, who are inspired in new ideas to solve problems that our people face. That is the kind of partnership. That is the kind of attitude with which I think we should approach governance.
JN: Senator, we will have the chance to ask follow-up questions in the first round, but we’ll devote the few minutes first to questions from social.
Kristine Sabillo: Good evening, senator. Thank you for joining us. This is a question from Dina Esteban from Facebook. This is very timely after the vice presidential debate. She’s asking, what can you do with the contractual and probationary employees in this country? What would you implement so that it would be favorable to them?
BBM: Well, I have spoken on this several times now. I am opposed to this development that we have now for our workers. There is now the Endo, the 555, the contractualization. This does not provide any security for tenure to our workers which is actually a guarantee that is embodied in our labor code. For whatever reason, this government has chosen to ignore that. Furthermore, this also denies benefits that again are guaranteed in law. That’s why when asked which department I would ask for, if I am elected vice president, I would ask for DOLE, and because I want to look into that, and find a way to work with management, to work with the big corporations, so that we can find a way, of course, to compromise, and still providing that security of tenure, na hindi naman every five to six months. Hindi mo alam kung may trabaho ka pa o hindi, at yung mga benepisyo, yung mga medical plan, dental plan, mga benefits, scholarships, that sort of thing, that in the labor code is actually guaranteed, so kailangan din natin alalayan ang ating mga manggagagwa, ang mga nagtatrabaho. And then again the support for our OFWs is really something we need to pay attention to. The remittances of our OFWs comprise now 20 percent, or one-fifth of our economy which is really large. And we are calling them “Bagong Bayani”, but the way we treat them is not very good. That disconnect. We really need to correct, that something again that require our attention and our concern.
JN: Senator, another question about your candidacy, this one is from Klaus @klaus_19, also from Twitter, “My question for Bongbong Marcos, why should we vote you to become our vice president?”
BBM: I feel that number one, I think I am most experienced candidate, and unlike the other candidates, I have been through not just the legislature, but also I have been in executive positions, as governor for 12 years, when you put it all together. And that in the executive position, I got used to the idea that you go out you actually do things. I have a firm belief that our legislatures have done a good job of addressing the problems and writing laws and passing laws, where we fail is often in the implantation of these, and that’s why I should like to return in the executive, and try to help in implementing those laws that we just spoke about. The labor code is a perfect example. The law is a good law. It covers all the elements that need to be covered and yet we are not implementing it properly. This applies to many other areas – not only in the economy.
Secondly, beyond that I always describe that our problems our people face are “dikit sa sikmura,” in other words, livelihood, jobs, the prices of commodities, that sort of thing, and this is something how I feel that I having something to offer because I had some trainings, I studied economics, as I have said, I administered, and been a nick in the executive position and had to care for a local economy and watch it grow and nurture it. And with that experience, with that training, I think I have a great to offer in improving the lives of our people, through making the economy grow and making it more equitable. The distribution of wealth is something that we have very, very large problems with. The lack of stable middle class is something that should really be looked into, the social cause of that. Those kinds of some things I have good understanding on and can offer many ideas and proposals, so that we can improve that situation. From those two I think, from the experience in the executive, experience in government, and also the training that I’ve had, and the experience with the economy and economic issues.
KS: The left is in the news again especially with Mayor Duterte, the Filipinos know about the history of your family with the left. Nokee Villanueva is asking, “How can you address the insurgency and how would you be able to encourage the left or the communist movement to return and be law-abiding citizens?”
BBM: Well, I think, that is to address their concerns. Generally, what happens is that when the time that insurgent movement can prosper, is if that community, that area, that population has been ignored or neglected by the government. If the service of the government do not go all the way to the people, if there are injustices that are not corrected and that are not seen to by the government, if there is little hope. If a person – this is something again I applied when I was governor – has a good job, with hope for the future, it is highly unlikely that that certain person will not pick up arms go to the mountains, and fight the state. If you can provide that and that they have a peaceful and equitable society they live in and that their children will be safe, that the schools are good and provide a future for their only families, that I think is the best – the military solution only goes far.
You need to have the services that are expected of government — the support for livelihood, the support for in the terms of peace and order, for education, for healthcare, all of the basic – communication, power. All of these basic services that are required by people to live a normal and decent life and hope for their future. If you can do that, then an insurgent movement cannot prosper, because what are you fighting against if what we have is good, is helpful, and is compassionate. If you can provide that, that goes a long way to solving the problem.
JN: One question for your end game, as far as your candidacy is concerned. This is actually from one of your supporters @chrisramoski or Christopher Lloyd, “Despite the overwhelming support for BBM, and the PCOS still elected Leni, are you going to appeal?”
BBM: Well, if there are reports as to there have been anomalies or problems, we already have, in fact, began to get reports on that regard in the overseas voting, we are getting reports that votes that were made for me, the people who voted for me, when they looked at their receipts, their votes went to other people. Unfortunately, for me, I seem to be the only victim, because the other candidates do not seem to lose votes. I am the only candidate that right now that has reports to me losing votes, so that is of course alarming. And so that is something we have already reported, we have already appealed, we have continued to ask the Comelec, to explain to us what they think has happened. What are the technical problems that caused them to happen and what we are going to do to so they don’t happen again? That’s the first point.
Again, we have studied as much as we possibly can the whole system of election, and it really boils down to the same thing as before. We have to be vigilant. Number one, you should look at your receipts. Yung mga sinasabing resibo ng bawat botante, tignan niyo ng mabuti, na talagang ang ibinoto ninyo, yun ang lumabas sa inyong mga resibo. Pangalawa, yung ating mga kasama diyan, pagsara ng presinto, magpopost ng Comelec ng ER, election report, kung hindi kayo makakakuha, picture-an ninyo. Para meron tayong record na pareho ang election records, at kung ano rinerecord ng Comelec, kase kung magkaiba yan, magkakaproblema na. Pero kung pareho lang, that’s okay, para kung magkaiba, para mapag-aralan natin, maimbestigahan natin, matignan natin kung ano nagging problema. So it still comes down to vigilance. There are no real shortcuts in making sure that the elections will be conducted fairly, except for people being vigilant and guarding and protecting their votes as well as they possibly can. So again it’s the two resibo, the personal at tsaka yung ER ng presinto.
KS: This question is from Mickey Bantillo from Facebook, this actually has been asked several times for the presidential candidates, “If you win, will you seek for the burial of your father sa libingan ng mga bayani?”
BBM: Well, I don’t know what personally seek means. Well, the position of the family never changed. I think this is supported by rules, by laws, that it is his right as a soldier to be buried in the libingan ng mga bayani. It is his right as a president. And that has always been consistent. Now whether or not we worked actively for that particular issue, for the reason that it has been made very, very clear to us that this administration is not going to do that. If that door is open, we would certainly pursue it. But that position is just according to law, according to tradition, it’s just according to what we do to our soldiers, for our officers, for our presidents.
JN: Senator, we have a couple of follow-up questions, in your first answer, you said your reference partnership and excellence in governance, you were talking about mediocrity in government, are you talking about the last six years, are you talking about a longer time frame? And what did you mean by mediocre?
BBM: Mediocre, they don’t know their job, they are not talented. They don’t know what they are doing. They are not interested in their job.
JN: And you are talking about?
BBM: They basically don’t care whether they are doing a good job or not. It’s simple because when things go wrong, everybody makes all these reasons, they don’t say, “Okay. It’s my fault. I’m going to put it right.” That’s the answer that’s supposed to be. “I’m sorry that this has happened, I’m in charge of this. I should not allow this to happen. I will not go look into it and make sure it never happens again.” That’s the answer of a good public servant. But what we hear now, “Hindi, hindi naman talaga yan problema eh. Ang nagkaproblema ay siya. Hindi kami yan. Iba may kasalanan niyan.” Yung nagtuturuan. Ibig sabihin, wala silang kaalaman para ayusin yung problema, either that or they don’t care. So either way, that makes us very bad public servant.
I think the last six years had been particularly bad in terms of excellency in government. We all have seen these people who had been already implicated in illegal activities and they protected because they are allied with the president. We see people have not really done anything wrong and they, naghahanap ng kaso para lang iniipit, again it’s too much politics. We should talk about national interest. We should talk about nation building – those are the things that should be paramount in people’s minds. Some of the past few years, some administration are better than others, but there’s still been the quality of leadership we need to improve. It’s all very well to say that anyone – if we are so equitable, our system is equitable that we can – anyone can be president, that’s fine. But not everyone can be good president. So we have to find an electoral system where we only elect good president, no matter what party they come from. And that’s why this idea: the two-party system is a reason again, may Sistema yan sa pagpili kung sino ang pinakamagaling. And kahit sino ang mahalal, at least may karunungan yun, may experience yun, guaranteed, minimum quality of leadership.
JN: Do you think the winner on May 9 can meet you standards?
BBM: Well, let’s see. If it’s Miriam, then definitely yes. But if not, we’ll just have to see. You know, there is a really nice saying, “You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose,” and what happens in the campaign trail is sometimes different from – if they can consistent with everything they said in the campaign trail, well, we’re in good shape but it’s not as easy to do as it is to just say, so let’s hope that they do. Stay consistent and true to their principals and ideals that they say that they hold closed to their heart and wish for our country.
KS: Senator Miriam, despite her popularity with the younger voters, is still lagging in the polls. Are you still optimistic that she can win and could you share your experience by campaigning with her?
BBM: Well, the thing is, in the polls, as you said her support comes from younger people, and she’s consistently the winner in all the mock elections in universities and schools. And if we look at the demographics of the Philippines, voters who are 35 and below is 44.44 percent of the voting population. And therefore, since to take in those two things together, that young people are very supportive over, and they comprise the largest demographic in terms of age and I feel that support has not yet been felt. My experience with her in campaigning has been the same in the senate, and that has been one of the – she’s a terribly impressive woman, she’s extremely intelligent, she’s very profound in her thinking. She’s terribly witty and entertaining. So, I think her presidency would be something again that would provide vision; that would provide leadership; that would provide new ideas to the problems that we face and a means to make those ideas reality. All these elements are important for the success of her administration. She, I believe, as all of the candidates go that she’s certainly can show, by her own tests, the best in academic excellence, professional excellence, and moral excellence.
TS: Just one more follow up question, do you think health-wise, do you think Senator Miriam would be able to handle the presidency?
BBM: So far she is able to handle the campaign probably more rigorous than the presidency because the physical demands on you during the campaign are great deal more than during the day to day conduct of your work as a president. So if she can manage the campaign, she can certainly manage the presidency. She has to take that her condition into account but I think she has managed to do that so she can managed to handle that when elected president as well.
JN: Round two. We’ll start out with questions from social. In this case this is from Facebook. His name is Michael Jordan. And this is about your family legacy. Ang pagiging Marcos sa panahon ngayon, isa bang asset o liability?
BBM: Napalaking asset. Lagi kong sinasabi, when I think of it I’m probably the luckiest person that I know and one great part of that is I was born a Marcos. In my experience as a young person, many of the things I saw, the people that I’ve met, experiences I’ve had, I would not have had if I was not my parents’ son and to be exposed to two remarkable people, my father and my mother, is again remarkable. And to be the beneficiary of their good work in their time, now that I am myself a candidate, is part of that advantage. Of course being a Marcos brings with it parang built-in na opposition but that’s part of public life. I don’t think any candidate that has been elected with a hundred percent vote. All candidates have their opposition, all candidates have their supporters. I’m gratified to note and grateful that we have more supporters than we do have critics.
READ: Bongbong says Marcos name a big asset; proud to be his father’s son
KS: This is from Sheryl Moira from Line. What you can do to remove the “mirroring” of your father’s image, I guess by how you are being compared as always.
BBM: Well you can’t. My father, because of what he was, and the way of his presidency, cast very long shadow. And every son has to go through that, make their own name, make their own way. I’m proud to his son and I don’t want to remove that. For example, we are both in politics. Actually, when I was younger, I didn’t want to be in politics, because inevitably I will be compared. My father did everything. He succeeded in everything that he did in politics. So how can I do better? I will always pale in comparison. But again, life does that to you and takes you to places you did not intend and here I am running for vice president.
JN: I can’t find the question right now but somebody from Facebook wants to know. In 1992 your mother ran for President, she didn’t win. In 1995 you ran for Senate, you did not win. But in 2010 you ran for the Senate…What has happened for the past 15-20 years?
BBM: We stopped becoming the issue. People are still trying to make it the issue but we, in fact are not. Earlier when we first came back in ‘91, ‘92, the election of ‘92 , Marcos was an issue, it’s not the issue, but it’s an issue. The fact that you are a Marcos was an issue. And that’s something that we still have to work through. But we’ve always felt that the base of support was still there. Now it’s clear that it’s not the issue. The issue now is back to what it normally is, which is the economy, jobs, the price of commodities, education, crime, and were back to that. And unfortunately, ‘cause we haven’t moved forward to that, we haven’t solved those problems. But since we are there, what has happened, in my case, in this campaign, I think is, one, I have many specific proposals on programs of government, on what to do about jobs, on what do to about crimes, what to do about the drug syndicates, what to do about education, what to do about labor, what to do about brownouts. And beyond that is the message of unity and trying to bring the country back together again and people working together even if they come from separate political groups, separate places. Even if they are not natural allies. But to be able to bring that, its where leadership comes in. it’s where to bring all this disparate forces together and working for the country. And that synergy, okay, that’s the overuse of the word, that synergy that we need to get, we need to feel to succeed. And that message I think is what is bringing the support. Filipinos understand that because we have that intuitively within us.
KS: Here are questions from Twitter that are somewhat related. What measures will you take to improve school facilities over the Philippines at sang ayon po ba kayo sa K-12 curriculum?
BBM: First, we really have to improve our facilities. It’s very simple. We’ve heard this, ‘ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan,’and it’s true. We keep on repeating this because it’s true. But the quality of our future is determined by the quality of our children’s education and that is dependent on our teachers. So we have to support our teachers better. We have to give them better trainings. We have to give them better materials. We have to support them better. For me all teachers are heroes. Not only because of the teachers I have in my life.
Teaching for me is a vocation. It’s not a profession. It’s not a career. It’s a vocation. Parang pari yan eh. You have to do it. That is an admirable thing to do. We must support that. We must allow our teachers to teach. When I first became a Congressman, I saw this situation when I visited schools, the teachers were not teaching. They were selling things. I’m sure you’re familiar with those situations. And I asked them why. Because they are not being paid on time. Yong sweldo nila laging late. Nag 5’6 sila. Kailangan nilang magbayad. They have their own families to support. We should not allow that situation to happen. We should do everything that we can to support our teachers. Whether it is to raise their sweldo. Whether to make their benefits more tangible. In terms of trainings, technology is moving so fast. There’s so much new knowledge being uncovered that we really have to help teachers keep up. If the kids are also going to be aware of the state of the art in whatever field they chose to go into. And of course the facilities, our schools, we keep in here that we have back logging schools, well I suppose that’s technically true, but that’s as of 2010. We have not built one classroom for K-12. We have not hired one teacher for K-12. Although I think this is a good idea because hinahanapan talaga tayo ng extra 2 years eh. Kasi pagpunta ng ating mga graduate sa abroad, sinasabi, ‘hindi, underqualified pa kayo, kailangan nyo pang mag-aral.’ Mukhang kailangan talaga. But the implementation has been very poor. Hindi napag-isispan nang mabuti. This whole idea now that we will get trainers from CHED, they will come back to senior high school or paghahatiin ang student school population ng private at public. This just won’t work. Because they haven’t thought the plan through. I think, we need to go back and understand what we are trying to achieve here and how are we going to achieve it. But then we have to support that plan in terms of buildings, in terms of facilities, in terms of equipments, in terms of support for our teachers. Improve the quality of our materials, all of that needs to be done. I think the first part of the answer to that question is we have to recognize that education is the single most important service of government to its people. Once we accept that and embrace that principle, then I think it will be easier to understand what is it that we need to do. Pero yan talaga ang pinaka-una. Because an educated populace makes for a more progressive one, a more peaceful one, a more cooperative one in terms of society. And that’s why it is so important that we provide a good education to all our children, young people and to all who cares to come back to school. Napaka importante. The importance of education simply cannot be over estimated. It’s just the most important thing of all.
JN: I’ll just ask one follow up question and we’ll move on to the third round. And we can have Sandro join us. Let me summarize I have a few questions from Facebook and Twitter. Do you consider yourself wealthy? Where does your wealth come from?
BBM: Well, I don’t consider myself…I know lots of wealthy people and I’m nowhere near the kind of wherewithal they have. So it’s really hard to say. I suppose in the Philippine setting, I would say that I am better off than most Filipinos, luckily of me. But that, where does my money come from? We are a very modern couple, my wife and I. She makes the money, I spend it. But there were many questions raised, where does my money come from? Many of these are investments that we have made. Sometimes they just look at the assets they do not look at the ‘utang’. That more balanced assessment would probably be good.
There are other things that we have regained, that belonged to me specifically, over the years, and over the years we were able to get back because they’ve subject to court cases for example and napanalo naming yong kaso so, naibalik sa min yong mga asset na yon. But the most of it right now really just come from the work that I have done in the past few years, my wife has done in the past few years. We’ve been lucky being able to recover some of the assets that were mine to begin with. In a political setting, I’m a pauper compared to some of the other. There are some vice presidential candidates that are spending 15 million pesos a day. That kind of level of expenditure I cannot even begin to approach. Tignan niyo na nalang ang ad. Each ad costs I think 860,000 something. Bilangin niyo ung ad then times 860,000. You will know exactly how much they are spending everyday. So it’s that simple and why don’t we ask them where they are getting that money.
READ: ‘I’m a pauper compared to other pols’
JN: Some of the assets that your wife have in common are your children. We’re happy that your eldest son is here. May I call on Sandro to join us? Ferdinand Alexander Araneta Marcos. Sandro if you could kindly take a seat there. We will have a chance to ask you what happened earlier today. But if I could ask Senator Marcos in front of his son. Because I am interested in your family history. I asked you earlier if I could ask something emotional that was raised on Twitter. Remember sir this person was asking, “What was going through your head when your family was being moved from Malacanang to Hawaii?”
BBM: Well there were several stages in the way that the Americans, because they were all Americans who took us to Hawaii. The Americans first took us to Clark. Then they said we would stay for the night. In the middle of the night they said we need to move again. Before we knew, they were taking us to Guam. And I remember very clearly in the airplane taking off and we couldn’t resist anymore because we were in their custody. I remember clearly, I was asking my ninong, Danding Cojuangco, who was sitting next to me in the airplane, “Kelan kaya tayo makakabalik, kung makakabalik pa ba tayo?” That was immediately my concern. They’re taking us away from the Philippines. “Will we ever be able to come back?” That’s exactly I was thinking.
Subsequent to that, everyday, after that, every single day, the first thought in my mind, “How do I get back home?” That went on for 6, 6 plus years. So that was the thought that entered my mind as the plane took off while taking us to Hawaii. That was the thought in my mind every single day that we’re out of the Philippines.
JN to Sandro Marcos: How does your father talk about that part of your family history? Can you remember the earliest memory?
SM: Obviously that is part of our history that can’t be avoided. So obviously my dad has spoken to me about it a few times but it is something that it doesn’t take a sort of step forward when it comes to issues that he talk to us about. Also because I can’t even begin, me or my brothers, couldn’t even begin to relate, what he experienced, what he went through, the emotion that run through the course all those years. And it’s something that I cannot comprehend, even until now, I think that I can’t comprehend. And so it’s mentioned but the details, is somewhat I won say redundant but at this point, I can’t comprehend so that’s much point looking into it anymore.
JN to Sandro: So even for you its already part of the history?
BBM: It is a part history.
SM: It cannot be changed. So, “yes” to answer your question.
KS: Just a follow up, I also cover Malacanang and President Aquino,especially when the campaign started, started talking about you and your candidacy and other candidates going against their own presidential and vice presidential bet. How do you feel about that, you mentioned kanina na there seems to be may mga taong ‘ginigipit’ under the administration and you’ve been mentioned a couple of times on your stand about the BBL, and other issues. And for Sandro, how do you feel about that the administration has been speaking ill against your father?
SM: I’m only going to say like what he said, it’s too much of a politics. It’s too much politics. By having that amount of politically driven action within the administration, you block, you waste the energy, you waste the time, you block the opportunity for further progression and I think that is a large part my father is trying to say, that is a large part my father is trying to change and that is a large part my father is trying to do.
READ: Marcos, son agree: ‘Too much politics’ hindering PH growth
BBM: Well I think, actually, it seems to me that maybe those who would choose to take us to the past are missing the point. I say that because when we I talk to people, that’s not what they ask me about. They ask basically questions that are always asked by any voter of any candidate, “What are you going to do to make my life better?“ ”What are you going to do to improve my life better?” “These are the problems that I face everyday.” “What are you going to do about it?” “Will you in fact be able to do it?” And that is the question I have tried to answer. I view all campaigns in elections as about the future. “Which future are you taking us to?” “Are you taking us to a good one, or to not so good one, or bad one?” That is the question I think voters are asking. I was walking around in Baguio, in the market, once, and a lady stopped me and asked me, “Why should I vote for you?” and I said because I am trying to unite this country and I feel that I have many ideas that will help ordinary Filipinos. And that for me is the point. And that is the discussion I think is what we should have. That is the discussion we should be having. Who has the best ideas? Who has been the most effective? Who has the best record? Who actually has done something for this country? Who has just talked about it? That I think is what people are looking at for because these will make people decide which way to vote.
JN: How often does your wife Lisa Araneta Marcos get to see her cousin Mar Araneta Roxas?
BBM: Probably I see Sec. Mar more than she does. I run to him sometimes sa mga hearing sa Senado, the SONA, we run into each other. Lisa, I think sometimes still go to family affairs but recently because both of us, Sec Mar and I have been so busy with all the campaign, leading up to the campaign, I haven’t had time to see my family and so much more. I think Lisa is also terribly busy with the campaign and with her practice so I think that sort make it difficult.
SM: It’s actually funny that you’ve mentioned that. Every time that they cast a comparison to my dad and my Tito Mar, it’s always cast in opposition. Obviously because Mar is running (under the Liberal Party). There’s an opposition aspect to it. But if you break that down, speaking personally, his my tito, and a lot of my cousins are Aranetas and support him and some of my best friends that I hang out with at least three times a week, are directly related to him, they’re part of the Aranetas and I always believe, and it’s something my father always told me that, friendship is transcendent of politics. Friendship should always be the first priority when it comes to political discourse even if you have political differences you shouldn’t let that drive your opinions. Other people because they are always entitled to feel what they feel, think what they think. Which is why when you have that comparison of my dad and Mar, it’s always have an opposition, and I find it quite funny because… it’s not just more complex because his inaanaks are my cousins who I see almost all the time and we’re extremely good friends and they’re always in the house that’s why it’s very funny to think it that way for me.
BBM: I guess because again, he sees them socially and they hang out together and that’s all a different thing and I guess it’s just the way our lives have gone that we’ve taken parallel but perhaps separate paths so once in a while we run into each other but only on professional basis these days. I hope that after the campaign, after the election, that whatever happens, and I hope this, not only for Mar, but for all the people, people I’m friends with, be related or not, after the campaign, it’s not easy to do but I still hope that we can do it, we can put that behind this and continue with whatever relationship we had before. They are my friends for a reason, they are my friends, yes because we get along, we agree, we enjoy each other’s company – that I don’t think will change but I hope whether or not we can return to that is another question but I hope we can.
KS: This is a question from Hermie Presna from Twitter, “Anu-anong hakbang ang gagawin mo para masugpo ang political dynasty? But maybe we should ask first, what is your stand on political dynasties and for Sandro, we’ve been seeing you a lot lately, are you interested in getting into politics?
SM: Recently that is the most asked question I get. I think it’s a very obvious question that someone would ask, do I want to go into politics? As of right now, not really, no – the reason why you’ve been seeing me a lot, the reason why I’ve been you know in the public’ eyes is really to support my father and really this campaign trail, all of this, this isn’t all about me, this isn’t about my brothers, it’s about my dad, and I am here to do whatever I can to be able to support my dad in any way possible whether it means I have to laugh, be happy, do anything as long as it’s in his name, to support him, I will do it. And I guess that’s really the question whether I go into politics in the future, I don’t know because right now I’m really focusing on my studies, I’ll graduate in school in a month, I’ll be starting my master’s degree next year so those are really the things, the priority in my life right now, and just taking something else is just taking a step back.
BBM: I guess at the very least, when the time comes when he has to decide whether or not he enters politics, he has a very good idea what politics really is because he’s not an outsider looking in. He can see what happens in the public eye but the other things that go on away from the public eye and the things that needs to be done and how and what are the real concerns, etc. and so we provided him that knowledge, that understanding about politics which I am very happy to say even I had because of my exposure to my father’s career.
JN: In fact, I wanted to ask a follow-up question, sorry I’m jumping the sequence but I’m, you were already helping your father in 1965, in 1969 and even in 1981 I’m sure.
BB: No, maliit pa ako nung 65, I was like 7 years old.
JN: My question senator is that, what are the main differences during campaigning at that time and campaigning now. Did you find yourself telling Sandro what you used to do before?
BBM: You know what I call this campaign? The “selfie campaign.” They had no selfies then, there was no social media, the communication was so much different, and moving around, the transportation was so much different so in that sense, the logistical sense maybe is different, the true issues don’t really changed. So I think again you still have to answer the question of the voters, “Why will I vote for you?” “Why will I not vote for the other guy?” That’s still the same question with the technology the etc. you use all the available technology, all the means, the tools, but you’re still trying to communicate the message.
This is what I’m about, this is what I’m about to do, this is my vision, this is what I dream of, this is my wish, this is what I pray for, for our country and to show that you believe that the best way to show that is that I worked for this for all my life and this is what I can show you the results of that work. This is in my case and that is what I’ve been trying to do, and that in my dad’s time it was still the same thing but it was done in a different way, sometimes I think how do they do it, because we can take flights pretty much everywhere, you go to a place, even the most furthest away from Manila. There are facilities, there’s communication you can avail. You know you can just pick up the phone. There’s internet. All those things. I think how do they do it at that time, the country didn’t, the Philippines didn’t shrink, yeah didn’t shrink, the country was still as big as it was. How did they manage it, I guess it was much more difficult to do the undertaking at the time.
JN: Sadro do you have any ideas on the way the campaign is running right now or maybe about the history?
SM: Maybe, I… I don’t know any knowledge except of what he tells me about how campaigning would be before but on a more, on sort of a less serious note. I actually found the campaign experience because this is the first time and previously I would be in boarding school so I won’t be here for the campaign season so this is the first time I’ve been able to experience it, to go around with him and it’s actually quite fun. I actually enjoy it, I get to see the Philippines which I never had the opportunity to do before and I really had the chance to experience first-hand to go around and my dad always says that, ‘Campaigning is fun for everyone except the candidate himself,” and I completely agree with him. What more can I ask for to go see my country and meet the people in it and be able to see first-hand what the issues are, what they want to know, what they’re asking are, what their concerns are and how they want their future to be.
BBM: And that’s a huge plus actually, that I’ve spoken to and that what we really like about campaigning is stuff. And one part of it that feels really good is you get to really see the country. There are times when we’re in a car, and I look out the window and I say, “Son, tell me this is not the most beautiful country in the world, ang ganda-ganda ng Pilipinas, ang bait-bait ng Pilipino.” Well, Filipinos are the best people I’ve ever met and I’ve met pretty much all and every time I go out, go out of Manila, out of the country, which I tell to ordinary people, that’s what we enforce. Ang ganda-ganda, ang bait-bait ng Pilipino and the best people that I’ve ever come across and ang ganda ng Pilipinas and that makes me love the country more, makes me live the people more that’s something important that still reminds you why do you do it, ba’t tayo nagpapakahirap ng ganito, e tignan mo naman they’re worth it.
KS: Someone from Twitter asked, if you can enumerate what you’ve done in the senate but what I’d like to ask is if you can highlight the thing that you’ve achieved in your political career, what will you want to highlight?
BBM: If you’re talking about the senate, the one thing I’ve tried to really work on is to be a voice, to be a representative of local government simply because I politically grew up in a local government and I very much appreciate it how hard the local job, the local executives, the barangay officials, the barangay workers, how important that work is. And it’s something that many people who are not directly involved in it, of those who have no experience in it, so many don’t feel the importance of it, how hard it is, their sacrifices they make and that is something that I’ve always tried to be very active in giving that voice, explaining to our officials that some of their proposals they make are nice to listen to but they won’t work. Another area that I’ve always been very interested in is the youth movement. I really believe that we need the young people in the government, we need for them to be involved. We need them in many ways, one, we need new blood, new ideas, energy, we need people of the time who understands the world today it’s not something that they study, its’ something that they live. That is why they can take these leaps and bounce that maybe we are constrained to some times in generalization thing but against hat’s a part of what I’m trying to do. When I was in the university, I tried to be an eco-warrior when was young and I remember it began I joined the World Wild Life when I was in Oxford. We had lots of work to do though we started out giving out pamphlets, we were actually doing work for that but that stuck with me. Our bishop in Ilocos Norte once said, “Nature is God, and God is nature” and if you think of that basis, you’ll feel it’s actually true and that work is so important. There are many things that I’m so proud of, I think if you have to pick a few that would be at the top of my list.
JN: Sandro?
SM: Well, no. As the son, you think you know my dad is a little too humble and I’m here to show him off. The thing as a son that I’m most proud of, I’ve been very vocal of it and I’ve experienced it first-hand, I guess actually, in relation to elections is that the Philippines has a problem for high electricity prices. I believe and I know in Ilocos when he was governor, he was able to have a hand in the creation of the first wind farm in Southeast Asia in Bangui. I don’t how long it was but– and I saw an article a few months ago, saying that the Philippines now is the biggest wind energy producer in Southeast Asia. For my dad to have been the start of that movement, to have been able to create a vision for that movement, a large part of it was because IIocos was very far North so it’s very far from electricity guilds so we have a lot of brownouts and this was on sort of the way he could curb that and it worked. You can tell actually in Ilocos, it has become a tourist destinations. People go there to see it. As a son I’m proud of the fact that something that has become so significant now started with my father and so I just wanted to share that.
BBM: Thanks son, I never heard you say that, thank you.
JN: Senator we have 3 or 4 minutes left. Could we just get back to you in the political dynasty question? What’s your stand on it?
BBM: Oh yes, we never got round to that. Yes. Anyone’s position must be in consonance with the constitution. When the constitution says we have to pass an anti-dynasty bill then in that regard, we should work towards that. We haven’t yet done it but for my part, we just wrote last year the SK reform bill and it contains the anti-dynasty provision in any law in the Philippines so that is something we already began to put in. In terms of dynasties, political dynasties, I think it’s all natural, it’s a natural evolution you know. You go down to a barangay, there are people in that barangay who absolutely have no interest in politics. They don’t vote, they just do their jobs, wala silang interes. Meron naman wala talagang ginawa kundi mamulitika ad so that what happens it becomes — the area of interest to certain groups within a community and they become a political family and this is not exclusive to the Philippines. It sometimes happens in other countries.
We have to recognize that if we have political dynasties is that there are good ones and bad ones, there are political families who could have done good for their communities, there are political families who have not done very good for their communities. There is also a very natural process in which we choose our leaders and that is election and we have seen in many cases, where so called political families that were so dominant have not won the election, have fallen by the wayside and because people are saying they had not done their job well. Within a political dynasty, may magaling, may hindi e. may honest, may corrupt so it’s really difficult to generalize to say that this is a good thing and this is a bad thing. We really have to judge people on individual basis and that is really how our politics is evolving. People no longer have vote for party as much there used to be less influence than it is now.
READ: Marcos: Political dynasties ‘a natural evolution’
JN: So quick question Senator, so if we go back to two party lists as you suggested, will that mean fewer political dynasties because right now there is a definite political party structure integrate yourself into?
BBM: I believe so because the judgment will be made by the party and not the family so that mamimili sila ng kandidato not on the basis of their name to know their father was, who their mother was, uncle is or etc. It will be made on the basis of merit.
JN: last 2 questions, this one is for Sandro. So I was referencing your digital media luncheon earlier and many media has been impressed by Marcos supporters in the media. Do you believe in that observation that there’s a lot of pro-Marcos online and to what attribute do you take their activity and presence?
SM: Obviously, I’m a millennial. I go on FB every day, Instagram, Twitter everyday. That’s given. So I do experience the support? As a son of a candidate I really try as hard as I can not to check any of that. Because yesterday, it’s nice how people…It’s a pleasant thing to see but at the same time I don’t want to let that get in the way because not everyone politically, not everyone who’s in social media will vote. Therefore, if you check social media, if you check support, you sort of get a sense of false sense of security. Especially if it’s election period. The last thing I wanna do is to see all those supporters and say, “Oh yes, my dad’s gonna win this for sure.” No, you have to work for it, for every single vote.
BBM: That’s a perfect example of what I’m saying we need the young people. His approach, the way he’s talking is different to how I’d approach it.
SM: If any of you have Snapchat, I made my dad an account, two weeks ago. To follow him on the campaign and sort of everyday things…Please follow him @BongBongMarcos for promotion.
JN: Senator one last question, I’m sorry I have to ask this but I found out that you’re a Game of Thrones fan…
BB: Yeah.
JN: Actually from JV from twitter, if your family were on GOT, which house would you be?
BBM: I’d be Jon Snow man.
SM: But he’s dead, right now.
BBM: Never mind, I’d still be a warrior. Definitely that’s an interesting show.
JN: Senator I’d like to ask you a few closing words.
BBM: Well thank you for this opportunity and again and it is always good to have a direct contact with people in the way that they – this kind of support they provide. This is something that I’ll continue to do and it gives us opportunity and I want to thank everyone who has expressed their support and I really believe that will bring as one in this country, of unity, that of national unity, that of cooperation, one of partnership, one of bringing together the country behind a common cause of making our country to be better, making our country a good place to live and giving our people hope for the future. And I believe that it is a noble cause and that is what I live for, I work for and will continue to do so as long as the point I’m allowed to.
JN: Thank you very much Sandro and Senator.