President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. turned emotional during a television interview as he remembered the things he talked about in his father's grave when he won the presidency, a position his father held for 20 years.
"You should be here," Marcos told his departed father a day after the elections in May this year.
"You should be here. Because this is yours. This is not all mine. This is yours," he said in tears.
He also bared during his interview with TV host Toni Gonzaga on Tuesday, Sept. 13, that he asked for the late President's guidance as he was about to take on the highest position in the government.
Still emotional, he went on recalling his lines to Marcos Sr. "It is your good work that brought me here. Don't leave me now, I'm going to need your help."
"That was what I talked about. I spoke to him, it's time for you to rest now. Don't worry we'll be here. We'll continue. I will use everything I learned from you to continue your work," Marcos said.
'Son of the late dictator'
During the interview, Marcos confronted issues that come along his name such as being dubbed as the late dictator's son.
It does not hurt him, he said.
"No, because I know they're wrong," Marcos said. "It would hurt me if they were right, but they're wrong."
More than anybody else, Marcos said he knows his father so well and believes in his leadership.
"Ang diktador hindi nagkokonsulta. Ang diktador sinasabi na lang niya: ito ang gagawin n'yo sa ayaw at sa gusto ninyo (A dictator does not ask for consultation. A dictator only says: this is what you are going to do whether you like it or not)," Marcos said, dismissing criticisms on his father's rule.
He even went on to say that Marcos did more consultations with ordinary people and groups than the administrations that followed after his dad.
"I know that everything he did, he did with consultation, no matter what the system of government was. That's why for me, you can say what you want, that's your opinion. You're wrong," he said.
Historical revisionism
Asked if he will revise those written in textbooks, especially the events that occurred during Martial Law, Marcos said "only if they are wrong."
"Only if they're wrong. Factual naman, e (They are actually factual). You can check facts, not political opinion," he said.
He also stressed that he can prove everything he says about Martial Law, dismissing claims that he is revising history.
"We recognized the problems that happened, the abuses that occurred like in any war, all of these things that are already part of history," he said.
"There is no reason to revise it," he added.