Bongbong Marcos Jr. says PH lacks 'political maturity' for a multi-party system
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. believes that the Philippines lacks the political maturity to continue with the current multi-party system.
When asked in his sit-down interview with "The King of Talk" Boy Abunda if it's time to amend the 1987 Constitution on the qualifications to run for President of the country, Marcos Jr. said that it is not enough to revise the qualifications, but the political system as a whole.
"So the fix is not to amend the Constitution and amend the qualifications for the president; it is to change the political system in terms of our choice of candidates," said Marcos Jr.
"I was a great proponent of the multi-party system because of my experience studying abroad where I see that it has worked, but it has not really been a successful system in the Philippines."
"I think because we lack the political maturity in the Philippines to understand that ideology must play a part in a multi-party system," Bongbong added.
Before the multi-party system, the Philippines was under a two-party system divided between the Nacionalistas and the Liberals. After the dictatorship of Martial Law, the multi-party system was then enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.
"That's why I think we should start thinking about going back to the old simpler system, that we can always guarantee that whoever is elected — I'm not talking only about the president, but anybody who's elected to any position all the way down to mayors and councilors at the lowest level, lahat yan ay may pinagdaanan na, may kakayahan na."
Abunda also asked Marcos Jr. about human rights abuses during the regime of his father, dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
"According to Amnesty International, during your father's presidency from 1972 to 1981, about 70,000 to 72,000 were imprisoned, 30,000 were tortured and 3,200 people were killed," Abunda asked.
"Well, I do not know how they generated those numbers. And I haven't seen them. But let us ask Amnesty International to share that information that they have and maybe it will help us make sure the system works. And that alleged abuses occurred will not occur again. I think that's the only way that we can remedy that situation," Marcos Jr. answered.
Amnesty International has been reporting on Martial Law human rights violation data since their first report released in 1975, three years into the dictatorship.
The 2022 Presidential One-on-One Interviews with Boy Abunda will stream the individual interviews every night from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27 at 6 PM on Boy Abunda's official YouTube channel.
A television broadcast will air on the Kapamilya Channel at 10:30 PM.