Sara offered education portfolio
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and ASHZEL HACHERO
PRESUMPTIVE president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. yesterday said he is carefully looking at potential members of his economic team, while his running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is leading in the vice presidential race, is his first nominee for the Cabinet.
He said Duterte-Carpio, who earlier expressed interest in the defense portfolio, has agreed to take on the job of education secretary.
Marcos said economic managers will be critical in the next several years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis it caused.
Marcos, addressing the public, said while the country’s next president and vice president have yet to be proclaimed, he and his team are already preparing and vowed to hit the ground running once he becomes the 17th president.
“Maraming nagtatanong. What happens next? What are we doing now? Well, right now, siyempre ang intention ko is to hit the ground running kung sakali man matuloy ang proklamasyon later this month kaya kailangan nakahanda na (Many are asking. What happens next? What are we doing now? Well, right now, my intention is to hit the ground running in case the proclamation later this month happens, we are prepared),” he said.
The new president will take his oath of office on June 30.
Marcos Jr. continue to dominate the third day of partial and unofficial count of electronically transmitted results in the 2022 presidential race of poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.
In the vice presidential race, Duterte-Carpio also maintained her lead with 31.5 million over the 9.2 million of Sen. Francis Pangilinan.
As of the 7:02 p.m. tally, Marcos had 31 million votes based on electronically transmitted results received by PPCRV from 105,969 clustered precincts representing 98.32 percent of the total 107,785.
His closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, got 14.8 million votes followed by Sen.Manny Pacquiao with 3.6 million, Manila mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso with 1.8 million, and Sen. Panfilo Lacson 881, 967 votes.
In the vice presidential race, Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III ranked third with 8.1 million followed by Willie Ong with 1.8 million and Lito Atienza with 267, 466.
Marcos said he is keeping his campaign team and executive committee for now to help him with preparations, including identifying who would form part of his Cabinet.
He expressed belief that Duterte-Carpio, being a mother and her involvement in programs that provide quality education and better training to constituents as Davao City mayor, will help her in handling the difficult task involved in running the Department of Education.
He said Duterte-Carpio’s desire to ensure that her own children are well trained and well educated “is the best motivation that we can hope for.”
Marcos said he is also looking for the best people to be his economic managers, given that “the economic managers are going to be critical for the next several years because of the pandemic and the economic crisis.
He said he also intends to consult “specialists” or “best workers” from different industries to guide him in choosing his Cabinet men and other appointees.
He said he will make appointments based on “competence” and “willingness” to work with his administration.
“I continue to be guided by, as I said before, competence and willingness to work with the next administration. In our discussions, we removed immediately what their political leanings have been.”
He said critical focus areas for his presidency were energy prices, jobs, infrastructure and education.
He said he wants a government that gives voice to everyone who wants to help and that he is guided by the 31 million Filipinos who voted for him and “have agreed to unify and help us unify the country.”
Prior to his address, Marcos through spokesman lawyer Vic Rodriguez said the public should “judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions,” amid opposition by some groups to his victory.
FATHER’S GRAVE
Marcos on Tuesday went to the grave of his father, the disgraced Philippines dictator, a visit that underscores the polarization over the return to rule of the notorious political dynasty.
Images shared by Marcos’ team on Wednesday showed him in dark sunglasses, laying a bouquet of flowers atop his father’s grave at the heroes’ cemetery Libingan ng mga Bayani, where the body was moved in 2016 after the family won a lengthy battle for the right to bury him alongside other presidents.
Past governments had refused to bury him at the cemetery because of his brutal 20-year era of martial law and autocracy, which ended with his overthrow in a 1986 “people power” uprising.
Marcos’ body had been kept in a refrigerated mausoleum in his hometown of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, until President Duterte approved the burial with full military honors.
One image appeared to show Marcos Jr. wiping away tears on Tuesday as he stood before the grave, where a photo of his father was displayed, images on his Twitter account showed.
“The young Marcos is grateful to the Filipino people for giving him the landslide victory and to his father who (has) been his inspiration throughout his life and taught him the value and meaning of true leadership,” a statement with the images said.
Under the Marcos dictatorship, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $10 billion in ill-gotten wealth, a government-appointed commission found. Tens of thousands of suspected communist rebels and political foes were jailed, beaten or killed.
Marcos has always praised his father, recently describing him as a statesman and “political genius.” He has described his rule as a “golden age” for the Philippines.
Central to the victory of Marcos Jr, his critics and political opponents say, was an orchestrated offensive on social media, aided by a network of influencers and bloggers, to dispel historical narratives of the Marcos rule, and present new versions of events.
The family has long denied wrongdoing and says it has not engaged in misinformation campaigns. — With Reuters
