LAOAG CITY, Sept. 17– As the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (CoCs) nears October 12-16 period set by Comelec, political disunity in Ilocos Norte seems to rear its ugly head, pundits said.
This observation surfaced following a one-minute and 15-second video footage of Senator Ferdinand
“Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s statement posted in his Facebook account dated Sept. 17, 2015 about the query why did the sons of Senator Bongbong register as Laoag City voters and also the current political status between the Marcoses and Congressman Rodolfo C. Fariñas (1st district, Ilocos Norte), to wit:“Ang katotohanan niyan ay sila (mga anak ni BBM) ang nangbanggit sa amin na siguro ay panahon na mag-register sila para naman ay makatulong sa amin kay Governor Imee at tsaka sa akin at tsaka kay Congresswoman Imelda sa aming ginagawa sa pulitika at lalong na dahil nakikita nila na nagkakaproblema kami sa Ilocos dahil maganda sana ang samahang One Ilocos pero si Congressman Fariñas gusto yatang baguhin lahat ng mga gustong arrangement na maayos naman sana, ang problema hindi naman niya pwedeng basta’t palitan ang aming usapan.
“Sinubukan nga naming ma-accomodate yung kanyang gusto pero hindi naman pwede na basta’t ibalewala yung mga iba nating kasamahan sa One Ilocos kayat importanteng importante sa amin na maging buo ang probinsya kaya’t ipinaglaban natin na yong ating nga kasamahan sa One Ilocos ay we will stay loyal to them and we will continue to support them.”
The aforesaid video had 102,875 views in his Facebook account showing Senator Bongbong footage dressed in coat and tie while speaking before a camera with the giant portrait of his late father President Ferdinand Marcos as background.
As this developed, Congressman Fariñas was shocked and contradicted the Senator’s allegation when asked for his reaction. He told a local TV newshen that he and Senator Bongbong saw each other last night but he (Bongbong) never mentioned the aforesaid issue to him.
The newshen quoted Fariñas as saying that he assured that he is still an “ally of the Marcoses” claiming that he had pleased them everything they wanted about the One Ilocos.
Fariñas stressed that after the 2013 election, he had a meeting with Bongbong and Gov. Imee Marcos.
“We were texting each other,” Fariñas said as he expressed his desire to talk personally with Senator Bongbong perhaps to clarify about the aforesaid issue.
It may be recalled that One Ilocos was organized during the 2010 elections wherein the Marcoses invited Fariñas to join the group for the sake of political unity in the province. But in the 2013 elections, something went wrong with One Ilocos, pundits said. (jrg w/ ga, dd report)
