Even Sen. Panfilo Lacson had something to say about Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s no-show in the interviews of presidential candidates conducted by journalist Jessica Soho and aired by GMA-7 on Jan. 22.
To the statement of Marcos Jr.’s chief of staff Victor Rodriguez that his boss would not participate in the taped interviews because Soho was “biased against the Marcoses,” Lacson pointedly said it was “her job” to ask questions, such as the “very hostile” ones she posed to him that touched on his “role during martial law,” his evading arrest in relation to the Dacer-Corbito murders in 2010, his sponsorship of the controversial antiterror law, etc.
The senator in effect acknowledged that a presidential candidate’s past was part of the issues that must be scrutinized and openly discussed in an election. The interviews separately conducted by Soho delved extensively into the respective histories of the candidates, who each responded as they saw fit. It’s up to the 3 million Filipinos who viewed the show to assess their replies, but there was no unseemly retreat for Vice President Leni Robredo, Senators Manny Pacquiao and Lacson, and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. Too bad GMA-7 excluded the labor leader Leody de Guzman from the interviews, which he would have imbued with perspectives of the workingman.
With his unfortunate stance, Marcos Jr. was upstaged and outclassed by four of his rivals to the presidency. They came across as capable of facing up to the initial interrogation, while the survey leader sulked in the sidelines, whining about “negativity.” He and his camp should reconsider Rodriguez’s formulations given how #MarcosDuwag quickly trended in the aftermath.
Was Marcos Jr. afraid of being questioned about the family wealth that the Supreme Court had ruled as ill-gotten? Or how he would deal with the Chinese government, which recently invited him to an important social occasion even if he is not a government official? Or why the family friend and ally, President Duterte, is accusing him of drug use and a weak spine, among other things? These are clear issues that involve him and that he and his camp cannot constantly sweep under the rug and dismiss as “bias” or “negativity.”
The group Carmma (or Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law) said it unequivocally: The son and namesake of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos offered “a pathetic and cowardly excuse” for spurning the chance to face up to the burning issues.
How he behaves vis a vis the debates to be conducted by the Commission on Elections will further show his caliber.