Imee Marcos seeks Senate seat, Imelda to run for governor

MANILA, Philippines – Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos will run for senator in the 2019 elections.

Marcos is set to file her certificate of candidacy at 10 am Tuesday, October 16, at the Commission on Elections headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. She will run under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.

“Naniniwala tayo na malaki ang maitutulong natin sa bansa sa usapin ng ekonomiya (I believe I can contribute much to our country when it comes to the economy),” Marcos said in a statement, citing some of the country’s problems, such as inflation and the rising prices of commodities.

Marcos, daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, served as Ilocos Norte governor starting from 2010 up to the present; she is on her last term.

Prior to this, she was Ilocos Norte 2nd district representative from 1998 to 2007.

Aiming to replace her as Ilocos Norte governor is her mother, former first lady and incumbent Ilocos Norte 2nd District Representative Imelda Marcos.

Mrs Marcos will be running with his apo, grandson, Ilocos Norte Board Member Matthew Marcos Manotoc, son of Imee with ex-husband sportsman Tommy Manotoc.

Matthew ran for board member in his grandmother’s 2nd district in the 2016 elections. (READ: 3 generations of Marcoses run for local posts in Ilocos Norte in 2016)

“Dadalhin ko ang tinig ng mga probinsya at kanayunan sa Senado – bilang beteranong lider ng pamahalaang lokal, titiyakin ko na tutugunan ng ating mga batas ang mga kagyat na pangangailangan ng ating mga local na pamayanan sa kabuhayan, edukasyon at kalusugan na siyang mga susi ng kanilang paglaya sa kahirapan,” Imee Marcos said.

(I will bring the voice of the provinces and rural areas to the Senate – as a veteran leader of local governance, I will make sure that our laws will address the needs of our localities in terms of livelihood, education, and health, all of which are the key to poverty alleviation.)

Marcos ranked 7th-11th places in Pulse Asia’s September survey on the 2019 senatorial elections.

The last Marcos who served in the Senate is former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, who said he won’t be running for senator in the 2019 elections since he is confident he would win his electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

The patriarch Ferdinand Marcos was also senator from 1959 to 1965, the year he first ran for president. He was ousted in a people power revolution in February 1986, forcing the entire family to exile. – Rappler.com