Team DailyPedia
In an interview for the Meet the Inquirer Multimedia forum in Makati City last May 3, 2016, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago of the People’s Reform Party was once again asked why she chose Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos, Jr. as her running mate for the 2016 national elections. Her decision to pair up with Bongbong had surprised and disappointed several netizens. Some believe that this choice may have ultimately affected her popularity with voters.
The 2016 Presidential aspirant said she believes in “meritocracy” or a political philosophy and system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievements. With this in mind, Santiago sincerely believes that Marcos is ready to become Vice-President of the Philippines.
Santiago believes that Marcos has shown competency in his performance in the senate, specifically how he conducted the hearing on the controversial ‘Bangsamoro Basic Bill” (BBB) which was drafted without the scrutiny of both houses (congress and senate) and which attempts to solve the longstanding conflict in Mindanao by creating an autonomous political entity in the region. “He tore apart the bill and asked relevant questions,” she explained. “So I have nothing against him. And when we were together in the Senate, he was a competent senator… I think that he is ripe to become Vice-President.”
Marcos was a strong critic of the Malacañang-proposed version of the BBB and stated that it has many unconstitutional provisions.Senator Marcos later filed a revision of the controversial bill.
Marcos has been heavily criticized for his refusal to apologize (and even recognize) the atrocities committed during the Martial Law era under the dictatorship of his father, the late-President Ferdinand Marcos. Santiago defended Senator Marcos, stating… “I don’t think that the sins of the father should be visited on the children. I don’t see him either in any video or photograph, actively participating at his young age when the Marcoses were announcing their various policies for our country. I think he just got caught up in the actions of the adults.”
Santiago is fully aware of the negative backlash her decision to choose Marcos did to her candidacy. Santiago pointed out that Marcos has the intellectual competence and performance record in the Senate to be a suitable candidate. “Of course the thought of human rights activists protesting entered my mind immediately, but I know Bongbong from when he enrolled in the UP College of Law and I was a professor there.”
While her belief in meritocracy usually includes the academic excellence of an official, Santiago recognized that while Marcos did not finish his Law studies, she saw his intellectual brilliance in school and later in the senate.
