By Jelly F. Musico
MANILA, Dec. 7 (PNA) – Contrary to reports that he might vote Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos on Monday said he will vote for Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago in the 2016 presidential election.
”Of course not, I will vote for my President; Sen. Miriam is my President,” Marcos said at the “Kapihan sa Manila Hotel” media forum.
Marcos denied speculations that his vote would go to Duterte after the latter revealed to the media that the former would be supporting the Davao mayor.
Marcos has been linked with other vice presidential candidates like Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Recently, former President and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said he would run for president if Senator Grace Poe and Binay were disqualified and that he wanted Marcos as his vice president.
Reiterating that he had entered into a “loose coalition” with Santiago, Marcos also stressed that they agreed on many issues and concerns.
Marcos admitted that he earlier sought the support and endorsement of Duterte, who is his friend. However, he said the situation changed when the latter decided to enter the presidential race.
Meanwhile, Marcos also said that while there was still no hard data to show the exact correlation of social media and voting preferences, Santiago’s critics should not underestimate the support she was getting from the netizens.
“But if you look at the demographic of those most active in social media, it is precisely the demographic of the largest sector in our country, the young people,” Marcos explained.
He said the youth sector, specifically those aged between 16-35 years old, constitutes 44.4 percent of the country’s electorate.
“I would venture to say that all of them are on social media in one form or another,” Marcos emphasized.
Like Santiago, Marcos pushed legislation in the Senate for the benefits of the youth sector. Marcos is one of the authors of the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform bill that Congress has approved and currently awaiting signature of the President to become a law. (PNA)