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Raissa Robles: Bongbong was same age or older than those tortured and killed during Martial Law
If Senator Bongbong Marcos continues to do well in the vice presidential surveys, he could very well end up being just a heartbeat away from the presidency—30 years after his father was ousted from the position and he and his family fled the country during the People Power revolution.
"The sins of the father are not the sins of the son," chant his supporters. Marcos the younger echoes this in his campaign ad: "Hindi ako ang nakaraan."
Journalist Raissa Robles agrees, but makes an addendum: "He is not the past, but he will be your horrible future."
During the launch of the advance copy of her new book "Marcos Martial Law: Never Again", Robles addresses the reason behind the growing support for the dictator's progeny.
"There is a perception that Bongbong Marcos is too young to know all these things. For heaven's sake, Bongbong Marcos was older or [just] as young as the people who were tortured and who were killed," Robles said.
When People Power happened in 1986, Bongbong was already 28 years old and the Governor of Ilocos Norte. Recently, he stated that it is not his obligation to apologize for the sins of "past administrations."
Robles adds, "Bongbong Marcos likes to brag about his father's achievements, but he has selective memory. He doesn't want to say anything about the repression [and] about the torture. It is high time that he talks about it."
In the full version of the book, Robles is set to include the affidavits of Rolando Gapud and documents from Swiss Foundations that strongly suggest that the Marcos couple never had any intention of giving anything to the Filipino people.
"If Imelda and Ferdinand die, the money will go to Imee, Bongbong, and Irene," she said, "It's so fascinating [that] they say they don't know anything about the Swiss bank accounts, but their names are there."
"I want the Filipino people to see for themselves the actual affidavits," she continued, citing Supreme Court decisions and paper work from the Swiss Federal Court in Switzerland pointing to the conclusion that "the money of the Marcoses are of criminal origin."
"It's there—it's right there in the Swiss Federal Police website. You can read it. The link will be there and you can see it for yourself," she stressed.
Former Senator Rene Saguisag added that Marcos the younger needs to acknowledge what happened.
"[Bongbong Marcos] has to make amends, including the mother and Imee, because Imee, from some literature I have read, was not only privy to the transactions, but even had the signatures," he said, "In other words, they are not as lily-white, as innocent as they claim to be. Maybe I have my reservations as to Irene, but Bongbong and Imee—I don't want to use the term—but they were indeed...whatever."
Robles clarified that the book and their sentiments are not meant to rally the people against anyone.
"We don't want the 18-year-old to detest [the Marcoses]. We want the 18-year-old to understand what had happened and to think for himself, 'I will vote for a candidate because he is good for the future of the Philippines.' I don't want the voter to think, 'I won't vote for him because he is a Marcos.' It's not like that. He [the voter] has to understand 'I will vote for this person because he will be a good leader,'" she said. — BM, GMA News
