Vice presidential candidate Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza on Friday, April 8 dared frontrunning presidential bet Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to face the people and prove that "the sins of the father are not the sins of the son".
Atienza said he wants Marcos Jr. to "realize and accept the fact" that there were a lot of abuses committed during his father Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s, administration, particularly during the martial law period.
"Kung ayaw mo ipaliwanag sarili mo (If you don't want to explain yourself), I will consider you by default, you are planning to commit the same sin," the lawmaker said during the Pandesal Forum, in response to purported Marcos Jr. supporters' argument that the presidential bet is not automatically sinful by way of what his father did during his time as president.
Atienza questioned why Marcos Jr. does "not face the people and commit to us" that he will not do the same atrocities that his father did.
This, as he maintained his belief that a Marcos Jr. presidency would lead to "the problems of the nation today be aggravated."
For him to believe that the younger Marcos is different, Atienza said the former should promise that he will not let the army hurt the people as well as allow robbery in government.
Marcos Jr. should also tell where are the country's alleged stolen gold bars, he added.