Marcos on apology to human rights victims: 'I cannot apologize for anyone else'

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. refused anew to categorically apologize for the human rights abuses during the regime of his late father, former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Marcos dodged the question asking him whether or not he is willing to apologize to victims of the Martial Law atrocities and instead, answered he'll only say sorry for mistakes he did.

“I will apologize for any wrongdoing that I may have done, any mistake that will have caused anyone any pain or hardship, but I can only apologize for myself,” Marcos said in the vice presidential leg of the Pilipinas Debates 2016 on Sunday at the University of Santo Tomas.

“I cannot apologize for anyone else, only myself for what I have done,” he said as he reiterated his statement in a Super Radyo dzBB interview in February.

In that interview, Marcos said a public apology for martial law that his critics are demanding from him will not put closure to that dark part of the country’s history.

[Read: Marcos unfazed by anti-martial law critics]

Marcos asserted he was never accused of violating human rights in his 27 years of government service.

Marcos was vice governor of Ilocos Sur from 1980 to 1983 before succeeding her aunt, Elizabeth Marcos-Keon as governor in 1983. His term was cut short after he was forced to flee the country in 1986 following the ouster of his father.

After an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat in 1995, Marcos Jr. managed to reclaim his gubernatorial post in 1998 and served three three-year terms. He then got elected congressman representing the 2nd district of Ilocos Norte in 2007 before winning a Senate seat in 2010.

Camarines Sur. Rep. Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, the vice presidential candidate of Liberal Party, meanwhile, said Marcos could not be forced to apologize, but hit the senator for refusing to return his family's ill-gotten wealth to the government.

“Iyong recognition na maraming kamalian in the past, kasali doon yung hidden wealth na hanggang ngayon hindi pa natin nakukuha at iyon ay nakaw sa taumbayan. Hindi yata natatama na i-acknowledge lang yun, kailangan ibalik yun sa atin,” Robredo said.

Marcos said he could not return the ill-gotten wealth his family supposedly accumulated during the administration of his father.

"Sinasabi ibabalik ko daw kung ano ano. I cannot give what I do not have, I do not have control, I do not have any knowledge of any of the thing. Once again, let me repeat,  I cannot give what I do not have," the senator said.  — APG, GMA News