“Ang mahalaga ay pag-usapan ang mga bagay na top of mind ng ating kababayan. Iyon sa palagay ko ang mas mahalaga at hindi na tayo babalik sa mga isyu na 35 years old na,” said presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, January 24, causing Agot Isidro and other netizens to react.
His statement came during an interview with One PH Sa Totoo Lang after he explained his reason for not attending GMA Network’s presidential interviews.
The actress, via her Twitter, pointed out that Marcos cannot dodge the questions pertaining to Martial Law because his father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., proclaimed it.
https://twitter.com/agot_isidro/status/1485776013414236160?s=20
Many of the netizens agreed with Isidro. One noted that the former senator denies the allegations preventing the public from moving on.
How can you talk about moving on without any clear closure BBM Jr learn how to accept wrongdoing admit na nakinabsng ka sa ninakaw ng mga magulang baka mag move on kami
— Elmer444love (@elmer444love) January 25, 2022
Another referenced historians and archeologists who dig up the past to uncover the history. He also stressed that “in able to go forward you should know [the] history and learn from the past… not forget and most of all don’t revise.”
Yun ngang mga archeologists,milyong taon na ang nakakaraan pilit pa ding inuungkat ang mga bagay na may kinalaman sa nakaraan…the point is, in able to go forward you should know history and learn from the past… not forget and most of all don't revise…
— Dann Tristan A. Payo (@DannTristanPayo) January 25, 2022
Journalist JC Punongbayan rebutted that Marcos should not be hailed as the country’s next leader since his family was “napatalsik na 36 years ago.”
Hindi na rin deserve na ibalik sa Malacañang ang mga napatalsik na 36 years ago. #NeverForget #NeverAgain https://t.co/B8nJSeDJCr
— JC Punongbayan, PhD (@jcpunongbayan) January 24, 2022
For some, it is not just a simple “35-year old issue.” One netizen argued that it’s “a current stain” of the Marcoses since most of the cases against them are yet to be solved.
https://twitter.com/rjintong/status/1485876403665240074
Another clapped back at the young Marcos for “riding on his father’s achievements.”
https://twitter.com/trishyfishy_/status/1485854079527972865
A netizen was truly disgusted by Marcos’s statement as she blamed the former senator’s family as the reason why the country is drowning in debt.
https://twitter.com/caryllmatilac/status/1485824840862867456
A Twitter personality emphasized that problems originate from the “collective failure to learn from past mistakes.” Marcos wants to dismiss the Martial Law issues rather than face them.
https://twitter.com/DarnaImpakta/status/1485816566495473664
A netizen also feels that the presidential aspirant is “turning a blind eye to the issue” by refusing to acknowledge the atrocities during his father’s regime.
https://twitter.com/lelelexy_/status/1485814689355505673
Some of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses are yet to be solved. So far, out of the $10 billion stolen by Marcoses and his cronies, only over P170 billion have been recovered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), while the agency is still trying to regain P125 billion more in assets.
Apart from wanting to “move on,” Marcos also denied having any knowledge of the rumored Tallano Gold to be in possession of his family.
