SENATOR Imee Marcos said on Saturday, September 28, 2024, that she is choosing to run as an independent candidate for the upcoming 2025 midterm polls despite inclusion to the administration’s senatorial slate.
In a social media post, Imee, elder sister of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said she is choosing “to stand free and firm, like him; in believing that there should be no allegiance but to the Filipino people.”
“It is never easy to stand alone, in campaigns and in politics. But that is the legacy my father left me, that is the legacy of Apo Lakay whom we remember today,” she added as they commemorate the 35th death anniversary of their father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. who is also being referred to as Apo Lakay which in Ilokano dialect means a respected elder.
The administration announced on Thursday, September 26, its senatorial slate which includes 12 personalities from the five leading political parties that are part of the under ‘Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas.’
Imee said she is choosing to stand alone so that her brother will no longer be put in a difficult position, and “my true friends won’t have to hesitate.”
She reiterated she will also remain “free and loyal” not to any group but to every Filipino people who she committed to serve without favor.
Imee, however, thanked the Nacionalista Party to which she is a part of as well as President Marcos for defending her inclusion in the senatorial slate “despite the anger and extreme cruelty of some.”
Imee is known to have close ties with the Dutertes, including former President Rodrigo Duterte who has launched attacks against his successor over various issues including illegal drugs and the proposed charter change of the administration.
In January, Duterte tagged President Marcos as “drug addict” and “bangag,” the local term used to describe a person who is high on illegal drugs.
Vice President Sara Duterte also said that while they are running mates during the 2022 national elections, she and President Marcos are not friends unlike Imee.
The Vice President stepped down from post as the Secretary of the Department of Education in July.
Imee earlier maintained that she will continue to stand up for the Dutertes noting that the former President was the reason for his father’s transfer to the Libingan ng Mga Bayani which for her was a sign of “true friendship.”
Meanwhile, former Senator Panfilo Lacson, who was part of the administration’s senatorial slate, also said that he will be running as an independent candidate.
“I am running as an independent candidate, not being a member of a political party. I am a guest candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), which is part of an alliance of five major political parties that includes the administration’s Partido Federal ng Pilipinas,” Lacson said.
“Make no mistake – I am proud to be part of a grand alliance of our country’s five major political parties. I have no doubt in my mind that should I win next year, President Marcos fully recognizes my consistent role as a fiscalizer guided only by our shared motto: ‘Ang tama ay ipaglaban; ang mali ay labanan’,” he added.(TPM/SunStar Philippines)
