Bongbong on 2016 plans: Nothing final yet

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he and the Nacionalista Party (NP) are expected to come up with a decision about their political plans for the 2016 elections by the end of September.

Marcos said since the filing of certificate of candidacy is set next month, by the end of September “the political terrain is clear on who will run, who will coalesce, who will go in tandem, and who will be adopted.”

“I will ask for your patience because as you know, not only myself but, many of the potential candidates have to still make their decisions as well,” Marcos said in a press conference Thursday evening at the Hotel del Rio in Iloilo City where he attended the Visayas Congress of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP).

“I always tease the media when they asked me what my plans are. And I say, if I know my plans I would tell you. The reason that you do not is because there are no decisions that have been made,” he added.

Marcos also laughed off “insider reports” about a supposed “done deal” between the NP and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) of which Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a possible presidential candidate, is a member.

“That did not come from the Nacionalista Party. That did not come from the PDP,” he said.

According to Marcos, Senators Cynthia Villar of NP and Koko Pimentel of PDP-Laban just laughed off the reports as well.

Marcos explained that Villar only acknowledged the NP and PDP-Laban were talking.

“The Nacionalista Party has been in discussion with all the other parties for a long time now. For the last few months, we have been talking to everyone who cares to discuss it. We, as individual candidates, are also talking to other individuals as prospective decisions. But those decisions have not been made,” he added.

The NP has made a lot of progress not only with PDP-Laban, but with all the major parties.

“We are still technically in coalition with the Liberal Party but the coalition has been looser and looser and less formal as time goes on after the 2013 elections,” he added.

Marcos promised that when a decision is made, it will be known minutes later and will become official. He said it would be foolish to keep a national campaign secret.

“A national campaign is something that you announce at the earliest possible moment… It will be from the spokesman of the Nacionalista Party and not some unnamed, unattributed report,” he added.