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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday told World Economic Forum (WEF) President Børge Brende that the “survival” of the Marcoses required a member to enter politics to “defend” the family.
This was the answer of the son of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos when he was asked if he had expected to return to Malacañan Palace as chief executive.
“After we came back from the United States, after the exile when we were allowed to come back, the political issue was Marcos,” the president said.
“And for us to defend ourselves politically, somebody had to enter politics and be in the political arena so that, at least, not only the legacy of my father, but our own survival required that somebody go into politics,” he added.
Marcos said he initially did not want to become a politician as he saw the “sacrifices” his father made when he was president. He also said the Marcos family was unsure they would come back to the Philippines.
“That was a very trying time,” he said. “Those were dark days for the family, and I dare say for the country.”
The Marcoses were exiled in 1986 after the People Power Revolution toppled the dictatorship.
According to the special feature titled “The Fall of the Dictatorship” published in the Official Gazette, the two-decade administration of Marcos Sr. was marked by the “collapse of the Philippine economy,” “efforts to maneuver the 1971 Constitutional Convention to permit his continuing stay in office,” “government control over all forms of media,” “physical threats, libel suits, or forced resignation” among journalists, “stringent censorship regulations,” “systematic favoritism of the administration on crony companies,” and “massive poll fraud and rampant cheating” during the 1986 elections.
The dictator died in exile before his family was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1992 to face various corruption charges.
Imelda Marcos, the widow of the ousted dictator, was convicted of seven counts of graft by the Sandiganbayan in 2018 for illegally funneling at least $352 million to Swiss foundations in the 1970s when she was governor of Metropolitan Manila. She was also sentenced to imprisonment of six years and one month to 11 years for each count of graft, which is equivalent to a minimum of 42 years in prison.
However, she was allowed by Sandiganbayan to post bail partly because of her old age and state of health. She posted bail amounting to P300,000.
READ: Supreme Court urged to uphold Imelda Marcos’ graft conviction
Marcos earlier said he would not apologize for the atrocities committed by his father during martial law.
Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister, earlier said members of the Marcos family were hopeful that they will be given the platform to finally “clarify” the legacy of their father.
