Activists resist Bongbong nomination as KBL presidential bet

MANILA, Philippines — Opposition figures and activists resisting the return of the Marcoses to power strongly condemned on Friday the nomination of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as the presidential bet of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), the party founded by his former dictator father.

The KBL formally nominated the younger Marcos as its standard-bearer in a national convention in Binangonan, Rizal province, on Friday.

The former senator has yet to announce his decision to join the 2022 presidential race.

The Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (Carmma) said Bongbong Marcos’ looming presidential bid “is a mad attempt” for his family to once again rule a country “pillaged and violated” during the martial law era.

Carmma said allowing the Marcoses to regain their power was a way for them “to further evade their accountability for their crimes, and to promote the historical lies that they have perpetuated.”

“Carmma is resolute in campaigning and frustrating all efforts for a repeat of a Marcos and a Duterte rule in Malacañang in the coming years,” the group said.

The group’s convener, former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, spent over three years in prison for resisting the Marcos regime during martial law.

Carmma emphasized that supporting Bongbong Marcos meant backing the “murderous rule” of President Duterte, with the Marcoses serving as among the President’s closest allies.

In the same vein, former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales said the Duterte administration was no different than that of the late strongman, both of which she said bred corruption.

“In this coming elections, this is what we have to fear: the restoration of this populist kind of thinking. That’s why we say no to the tandem of Marcos-Duterte,” said Rosales, who was also a political prisoner during martial law.

Former lawmaker Erin Tañada also called out the need to hold the Marcoses accountable in the midst of their possible return in 2022.

“Until the Marcoses admit their wrongdoing, we have to go after them. We cannot let the Marcoses return to power again,” said Tañada in Filipino during an online forum on Thursday organized by students from 1Sambayan La Salle and Ateneo chapters.

Members of 1Sambayan La Salle and Ateneo chapters, offshoots of a broad coalition founded by opposition figures, also called on the youth to resist the Marcoses’ attempt to return to Malacañang in the 2022 elections.