KBL to support Bongbong’s vice presidential bid

MANILA, Philippines - The Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) will support the vice presidential run of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the 2016 elections even though some loyalists have expressed disappointment over the lawmaker’s recent pronouncements that apparently denounced the group.

Vicente Millora, KBL president, also said they would support any of the presidential candidates Marcos would endorse in the coming polls.

But the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda), a group founded by political prisoners during the martial law years, said the run actually “calls for more vigilance against the Marcoses who are still active in present day Philippine politics.”

Bonifacio Ilagan, Selda vice chairman, said the plan to seek the vice presidency only confirmed the “Marcoses’ delusion of continuing power to re-establish their brand of anti-people and fascist rule.”

“That he could have the gall to project himself as pro-democracy and pro-people speaks volumes about his malevolence. He has been short of telling us that the Marcoses have been God’s gift to the Philippines,” he lamented.

Some loyalists also expressed their disappointment over the senator’s “public disdain” of the diehard Marcos supporters who were pushing for his presidential candidacy.

Retired Gen. Bernabe Abella, Marcos’ uncle and loyalist leader in Ilocos, said they would be forced to field lawyer Oliver Lozano to run for president if Marcos really is set on the vice presidency.

Rodolfo Montilla, also a loyalist leader, said Marcos would not stand a chance in the VP race because “Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo is already the sure winner.”

Montilla also said there is a growing disappointment among the loyalists over the attempts to isolate the loyalists from the senator, adding that Marcos will have an uphill battle against the massive political machinery of his opponents.

He added that the senator’s mother former first lady Imelda Marcos and sister Gov. Imee (Marcos) were also disappointed over his decision to seek the vice presidency.

Ilagan said Marcos and other family members have never admitted to the “desecration of whatever kind of democracy the country had prior to 1972” when the late President Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial rule.

As the Marcos candidacy would make “elitism and human rights violations” prominent items during political discourses, he called on all freedom-loving Filipinos “to wage the strongest struggle against the resurrection of the Marcos type of dictatorial rule.” – With Rhodina Villanueva