Aquino says has faith Filipinos will reject another Marcos as leader
Date
10/28/2015 4:34:05 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Philippine President Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III (C) with FOCAP members taking a selfie during the Annual Presidential Forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at a hotel in Manila Philippines.
MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino said on Tuesday he had faith in the people to reject the son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as a leader adding that the family should apologise for the hardships of martial law.
Aquino is the son of assassinated pro-democracy senator and opposition leader Corazon Aquino who became president after Marcos was toppled by a popular revolt in 1986.
Marcos's son Senator Ferdinand Marcos more commonly known as Bongbong is running for vice president in the May 2016 elections which most analysts say is a step towards the bigger goal of the presidency in 2022.
His mother Imelda is seeking a third term as a member of Congress while his sister Imee wants to be re-elected as governor of the province of Ilocos Norte north of the capital.
"I have faith in my bosses the Filipino people (in not voting Marcos Jr into power)" Aquino told reporters. "There's nothing that has caused me to change the faith that they are able to discern."
Asked if he thinks the Marcoses should apologise for the horrors of martial law Aquino said: "Yes."
The government has documented more than 75000 cases of torture illegal detention and disappearances during nine years of martial law that ended in 1981.
"If there is a denial of what happened is that also a statement that there is no recognition that things have to be corrected down the line? And therefore is there a promise that there will be a repetition of the sin? Those are the questions" Aquino said.
Marcos Jr has previously said there is nothing to apologise for.
Aquino evaded a question on the identity of the mastermind of the 1983 assassination of his father Senator Benigno Aquino that sparked massive protests that eventually toppled the elder Marcos.
"The bottom line is there was a mode of governance existing in our country then that allowed such a thing to happen" he said. "And who was the principal author of that mode of governance in turning us into a dictatorship?"
Reuters
PHILIPPINES-MARCOS/ (PICTURES):Aquino says has faith Filipinos will reject another Marcos as leader