Ballot 3:
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
President
Partido Federal ng Pilipinas
By VERA Files
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Oct 28, 2024
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1-minute read
- Age: 64 (Date of birth: Sept. 13, 1957)
- Highest educational attainment:
- Oxford University, Special diploma in Social Studies (not an undergraduate degree)
- Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Masters in Business Administration (dropped-out)
- Endorsed by: Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, Hugpong ng Pagbabago, Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban, Cusi faction), Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, Labor Party of the Philippines, Partido Lakas ng Manggagawang Pilipino, National Unity Party, Nacionalista Party
Marcos’ main goal is to unite the country — something he could not emphasize enough in his proclamation rally speech, where he mentioned the Filipino word equivalent of “unity” 21 times.
A Marcos presidency also promises more employment opportunities and job security: a ‘jab to jobs’ pandemic response, support for micro, small, and medium enterprises through lower taxes and tax holidays, and investments in the agriculture sector, among others.
Field of Expertise
- Authored 13 and co-authored two bills that were passed into law, including the National Health Insurance Act, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2011, the Postponement of the Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, and the Expanded Senior Citizens Act.
Issues and Controversies
Convicted with finality in 1997 for non-filing of income tax returns from 1982 to 1985
Has yet to pay the Bureau of Internal Revenue approximately P203.8 billion worth of estate tax liabilities as an executor of his father's estate
Subjected together with his mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, to a $353.6 million contempt ruling by a U.S. court for disobeying its order freezing the family's assets and for failing to pay $2 billion to victims of human rights abuses under his father's regime
One of the 20 senators named by Janet Lim-Napoles, mastermind of the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel scam, for their alleged involvement in the anomaly
Lost his electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo in the 2016 polls
Criticized for falsely claiming he has a college degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University where he received only a Special Diploma in Social Studies
Slammed for his consistent absence in all but one presidential debates organized for the upcoming May polls
Family Members in Government
Mariano Marcos
Relationship: grandfather
Position/s held:
Representative - Ilocos Norte, second district (1925 - 1931)
Vicente Orestes Romuáldez
Relationship: grandfather
Position/s held:
- Former provincial sheriff - Leyte
- Former justice of peace - Tolosa, Leyte
Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Relationship: father
Position/s held:
- President (1965 - 1986)
- Senator (1959 - 1965)
Imelda Romualdez Marcos
Relationship: mother
Position/s held:
- Representative - Ilocos Norte, second district (2010 - 2019)
- Representative - Leyte, first district (1995 - 1998)
- Assemblywoman - Interim Batasang Pambansa, Region IV/Metropolitan Manila (1978 - 1984)
- Minister of Human Settlements (1976 - 1986)
- Governor - Metro Manila (1975 - 1986)
- Founding Chair - Cultural Center of the Philippines (1966)
- First Lady (1965 - 1986)
Pacifico Marcos
Relationship: uncle
Position/s held:
Chairman - Philippine Medical Care Commission (1971 - x)Elizabeth Marcos-Keon
Relationship: aunt
Position/s held:
Governor - Ilocos Norte (1971 - 1983)Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez
Relationship: uncle
Position/s held:
-
- Mayor - Tacloban City (1998 - 2007)
Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez
Relationship: uncle
Position/s held:
-
- Governor - Leyte (1967 - 1986)
- Former ambassador - United States, China, and Saudi Arabia
Edon Yap
Relationship: uncle
Position/s held:
-
- Former aide-de-camp of Imelda Marcos
Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios “Imee” Romualdez Marcos
Relationship: sister
Position/s held:
- Senator (2019 - present)
- Governor - Ilocos Norte (2010 - 2019)
- Representative - Ilocos Norte, second district (1998 - 2007)
- Assemblywoman - regular Batasang Pambansa, Ilocos Norte (1984 - 1986)
- Chair - Kabataang Barangay (1975 - 1986)
Mariano “Nonong” Marcos II
Relationship: cousin
Position/s held:
- Board Member - Ilocos Norte (2004 - 2013; 2016 - 2019)
Michael Marcos Keon
Relationship: cousin
Position/s held:
-
- Mayor - Laoag City (2019 - present), running for reelection
- City Councilor (appointed) - Laoag City (2018 - 2019)
- Governor - Ilocos Norte (2007 - 2010)
- Board Member - Ilocos Norte (2004 - 2007)
- President - Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (1985 - x)
- President - Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (1981 - 1985)
- President - Philippine Olympic Committee (1981 - 1984)
- Director - Gintong Alay Project (1979 - x)
Angelo Marcos Barba
Relationship: cousin
Position/s held:
- Representative - Ilocos Norte, second district (2019 - present), running for reelection
- Vice Governor - Ilocos Norte (2010 - 2019)
- Board Member - Ilocos Norte (2001 - 2010)
- Mayor - San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte (1992 - 2001)
Where this candidate stands on top 5 concerns of the Filipino voter
- Marcos proposes to address the high prices of food by strengthening the agriculture sector — from crops to livestock, to fisheries — with the end goal of providing a “secure and strategic food supply” for the Philippines.
- Research and development in farming and food production will be a priority as well as providing production loans to farmers, mechanizing farming processes to maximize efficiency, and establishing public post-production facilities that farmer cooperatives can manage.
- Setting up more “modern bagsakan/bulungan or trading posts” where consumers could directly buy from producers like farmers at an affordable price is also part of the UniTeam tandem’s agenda.
- Marcos wants to revive the oil price stabilization fund as a means to cushion the impact of the continuous rise in oil prices on the economy and the inflationary effects of “prolonged high oil prices.” While Marcos initially called for an excise tax suspension for oil companies he later backtracked and pushed for subsidies instead.
- If elected, Marcos promises a wage increase for workers, but only after the economy has recovered from the effects of the pandemic.
- Noting the expected opposition among businesses to a wage increase amid the country’s current economic situation, his administration will first ensure that trade is revitalized by reopening companies and getting people back to work.
- When he was senator, Marcos had been pushing to increase the salary of public school teachers and vowed to keep this promise if he becomes president.
- His running mate Duterte, meanwhile, wants to focus on programs in education, which she calls the “backbone of high-quality and better-paying jobs.”
- The UniTeam tandem sees a necessary shift from “import-centric” to “production-centric” in terms of food supply in aiming for a zero poverty incidence for the Philippines.
- A production-centric setup frees the country’s food requirements “from the dictates of market forces.” The result will not only be food sufficiency and security but also food sovereignty, making importation an option rather than a necessity.
- Homelessness will be addressed by “speeding up and improving” the government’s existing efforts on this concern.
- Asked how he plans to handle appointed cabinet officials involved in corruption, Marcos said if there is evidence to prove allegations of corrupt practices, he will allow the law to take its course.
- He vowed to select only trustworthy people who “do not have a history or record” of corrupt practices as a first step to eliminating corruption.
- In addition to “tightening our checks and balances” that would assure the proper handling of the nation’s coffers, Marcos will guarantee government efficiency to get rid of “fixers,” who encourage small-scale corruption.
- A flagship agenda in the Marcos-Duterte platform is job generation, especially for new graduates and overseas Filipino workers repatriated during the pandemic.
- The UniTeam tandem proposes to boost government support for micro, small, and medium enterprises. Apart from lowering taxes and granting tax holidays, their administration will invest more in the agriculture and tourism sectors, which are “job creators,” at the same time pushing industrialization and infrastructure development, with the manufacturing sector as the “primary contributor to job generation.”
Interesting Facts
- Became vice governor of Ilocos Norte at age 23
- Married to Louise “Liza” Cacho Araneta of the prominent Araneta Family and a cousin of Manuel “Mar” Roxas, former senator and local government secretary and a stalwart of the Liberal Party
- Decided to run for the presidency while watching Marvel’s Ant-Man, according to his wife