Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. gave strong indications he would run for president after resigning from the Nacionalista Party to join the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas on Tuesday, Oct. 5.
Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, PFP vice president, said Marcos and leaders of the party were set to discuss plans on the 2022 national elections. He added that the former senator now heads PFP as its chairman.
Expected to be high on the agenda of the said meeting is the strong call for Bongbong to join next year’s presidential race.
As of 2 pm, Tuesday, the PFP has not yet finalized its plans for the 2022 election.
Rodriguez said that despite leaving NP, Marcos still considers the party an ally.
"Bongbong Marcos is now the chairman of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and NP will still be a very important ally as we have embraced the policy of having the broadest political alliances," he stressed.
NP is the party that was represented by Marcos' father, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos when he won the presidency during the 1965 elections.
The young Marcos’ decision to change political affiliation triggered speculations that NP, now headed by the Villar family, was not considering him to be its standard bearer in 2022.
NP had previously declared it was renewing its alliance with the Hugpong ng Pagbabago headed by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
There are strong indications that Mayor Duterte will reconsider her previous decision not to run for president as her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, changed his mind about joining the vice presidential race.
Instead, Duterte endorsed his former executive assistant, now Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go to take his place as PDP-Laban vice presidential bet.
Mayor Duterte said her decision to stay out of national politics was due to her father’s acceptance of the PDP-Laban nomination for vice president.
Bongbong’s move to leave NP may have also been precipitated by the fact that his eldest son, Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos, was set to challenge Rep. Ria Fariñas for the congressional seat in the first district of Ilocos Norte.
Fariñas is the daughter of former House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, a oof key NP leaders in the Ilocos region. The former House official has been contemplating the gubernatorial post, currently occupied by Gov. Matthew Marcos-Manotoc, son of Sen. Imee Marcos.
Marcos was sworn in as PFP member by party president, South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo S. Tamayo in simple ceremonies on Tuesday.