Bongbong to announce presidential bid in Pangasinan?

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. could announce his presidential bid during a gathering of northern Luzon political leaders in Mangaldan, Pangasinan on Sunday, according to top officials of the newly formed Pagkaka-isa ng Mga Pilipino Para sa Pilipinas (PPP).

Vicente Millora and Jose Malvar Villegas, PPP chairman and president, respectively, told The STAR that they expect Marcos to announce his candidacy during the gathering organized by “Marcos friends” in Pangasinan and other parts of Luzon.

“Senator Marcos is definitely running as president, not vice president, it’s just a matter of time, we are preparing for the big event,” Millora said.

He said the PPP, a coalition of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) and Partido ng Mangagawa at Magsasaka (PMM), had applied for registration at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as a political party for the 2016 presidential election.

The KBL was founded by former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1978 while the PMM was registered as a political party in 1963.

Earlier, Marcos loyalist Oliver Lozano launched the Kilusang Bagong Liwanag – also using the same acronym – to mobilize support from civic groups for the presidential bid of Marcos.

Millora said the PPP has organized its national council of leaders, the coalition’s highest governing body.

The new coalition has elected its vice presidents for Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

He said the Nacionalista Party (NP) might not support the presidential bid of Marcos because of its existing coalition with the ruling Liberal Party (LP), which is fielding former interior secretary Manuel Roxas II as standard bearer.

“The LP and its allies are adopting a no-Marcos policy in selecting their national and local candidates,” Millora said.