Bongbong Marcos bares talk of ‘possible alliance’ with Santiago

Senators Bongbong Marcos and Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Image from Senator Marcos’ Twitter account

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. did not confirm nor deny that he was picked by presidential aspirant Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago to be her running-mate in next year’s elections.

Instead, Marcos said that he had a lunch meeting with Santiago’s husband, former Interior undersecretary Narciso “Jun” Santiago Jr. on Wednesday, to discuss “possible alliances.”

He said that he will meet again with the senator’s husband soon.

“I can confirm that I had a lunch meeting with Sec. Jun Santiago yesterday. We discussed a wide range of subjects concerning the upcoming elections and spoke of possible alliances. We agreed to meet again soon,” Marcos said in a statement sent to reporters on Thursday.

After giving a speech during the national convention of the Philippine Judges Association where she was inducted to its Hall of Fame, the feisty senator confirmed that Marcos is her running-mate.

READ: Miriam Santiago confirms Bongbong Marcos is her vice president

She said that they “mutually chose each other.”

“I think we mutually chose each other, our two camps. We happen to cross each other. Telephone lines happen to cross each other. It’s coincidental. One camp was calling the other camp,” Defensor-Santiago said.

Santiago first bared her plan to take a shot at the presidency for the third time on Tuesday. She will be running under the People Reform’s Party.

READ: Miriam Santiago will run for president in 2016

The 70-year-old lawmaker will file her certificate of candidacy (COC) on Friday at the Commission on Elections head office in Intramuros. For his part, Marcos has filed his COC last Tuesday. IDL