Bongbong Marcos is no longer the only member of the Marcos family eyeing a higher position in government. Her sister, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos said on Saturday that she might be the next to run for a national position.
She mentioned this plan in an interview with The Philippine Daily Inquirer during the Baguio Flower Festival over the weekend.
But she said this decision was not brought by personal ambition.
“The electoral protest filed by Bongbong has not advanced so one of his other siblings may be forced to seek national office, like me,” she said.
Bongbong, a former senator, is protesting the results of the 2016 election that declared his opponent Leni Robredo as vice president. He has been alleging that Robredo’s camp cheated ever since the results were announced but his claims have not been proven.
A manual recount of the votes is set for March 19.
Imee did not specify what post she might run for and has been coy about her plans to run as a senator in the next year’s midterm elections.
Just this month, she told reporters that she was still not sure if she was going to run for a senate seat. However, she did say that she might run “if needed” because they are growing impatient with Bongbong’s protest.
Even after their father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was thrown out of power and exiled in 1986, the Marcos family remains influential in Philippine politics.
Apart from Bongbong and Imee, their mother Imelda Marcos has also held government positions and is currently a congressperson for Ilocos Norte. They have not returned the billions of dollars their family stole from the Philippines while in power.
The Marcoses may have also had a hand in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign in 2016.
In October 2016, Duterte said Imee helped fund his campaign, even though she was not officially declared as one of his contributors. Imee, however, denied this.
Imee was also in Hong Kong over the weekend for a meet-up event with overseas Filipino workers, joining others from the Duterte camp who are rumored to run for senate like blogger and Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson and Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
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Many have criticized Duterte’s close relationship with the Marcos family, especially because of the many cases of human rights abuse during President Marcos’ reign.
In 2016, Duterte allowed the Marcoses to finally bury their patriarch in the national Heroes’ Cemetery, despite protests from Filipinos who think he does not deserve the honor.
Over the weekend, Duterte skipped the annual celebration of the 1986 People Power Revolution, the series of protests that led to the end of Marcos’ dictatorship. He also did not attend same event last year.
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