“What am I to say sorry about?” he said when asked whether he would apologise for the rampant corruption and human rights abuses during his father’s regime if he runs for president next year.
“Will I say sorry for the thousands and thousands of kilometres [of roads] that were built? Will I say sorry for the agricultural policy that brought us to self-sufficiency in rice? Will I say sorry for the power generation? Will I say sorry for the highest literacy rate in Asia?”
During Ferdinand Marcos’ 21 year reign from 1965, the ruling familyamassed a huge fortune and the country experienced rampant human rights abuses.
But his son grudgingly noted that if some Filipinos suffered during his father’s time in power, then the Marcos family was “ sorry that happened”. He added: “These are instances that have fallen through the cracks.”
Critics would describe that as the ultimate political euphemism. Indeed, a group of victims of the martial law era just launched a new lawsuit against Mr Marcos Jr and his mother for allegedly refusing to pay damages awarded for human rights victims.
“The lawsuit … is singularly significant because it magnifies in perspective the total arrogance of the Marcos family in its historical denial of the gross violations of human rights committed by Ferdinand Marcos under martial law,” the claimants said in a statement.
Yet Mr Marcos Jr, commonly known by his nickname “Bongbong”, has been aggressively defending his father’s record and insisting that the family name is a political plus not a liability.
Mr Marcos hopes to draw votes from the family power base in the populous home region of Ilocos Norte, where he previously served as governor. Hissister and mother both have political seats there.
To critics of his clan, he said: “There is nothing I can do that will change what my father did. History will judge him proper