Marcos’ son mulls presidential run

MANILA: The son and namesake of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos said on Wednesday he may run for president in next year’s elections, offering his once-exiled family the chance of the ultimate political comeback.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr, popularly known as ‘Bongbong’, said he would not seek a second term as senator and was aiming for “higher office”, which in the Philippines can only be president or vice-president.
“The discussions I have been having with different groups, with other individuals have really centred on higher office,” the 57-year-old said on ABS-CBN television.
Asked directly if he would run for president or vice-president, Marcos said: “It’s extremely difficult to make a decision at this point.”
Ferdinand Marcos Sr ruled the Philippines for two decades until 1986 when millions of people took to the streets in a famous “people power” revolution. The Marcos family fled to the United States, and the patriarch died in exile in Hawaii in 1989.
The rest of the family, headed by controversial matriarch Imelda, returned in 1991 and began a successful political comeback despite accusations the presidential couple stole billions in state coffers and oversaw widespread human rights abuses.
‘Bongbong’ Marcos won a Senate position in 2010, the first time since his father’s demise that a family member had won a nationally elected post.