Political difference with Binay led to tandem talks’ collapse

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has finally crossed the Rubicon on Monday as he declared his bid for the vice presidency in next year’s elections.

In a statement Monday night, the 58-year-old son and namesake of the late president said he is running as an independent as he dispelled speculations that he will tandem with either Vice President Jejomar Binay or Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

"I have decided to run for Vice President in the May 2016 elections…All these talks of teaming up with certain leading presidential candidates have been mere speculations,” Marcos said in a statement.

Marcos said he visited and consulted with Duterte last Wednesday and the mayor assured him of his support to his candidacy for vice president.

Another vice presidential aspirant, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, also met with Duterte the night before.

"He (Duterte) was gracious enough to promise me his support should I decide to run for Vice President. I too will support Mayor Duterte if and when he runs for President,” Marcos said.

Duterte last week hinted that he might run for President in 2016 citing "tremendous pressure” form his friends and ordinary people.

Marcos went to Davao City consulted Duterte, two days after fellow Nationalista Party (NP) member Senator Alan Peter Cayetano held a press conference in Davao City and declared his intention to run for vice president in 2016.

Cayetano’s decision to make the declaration in Davao City was supposedly part of an effort to convince Duterte to heed the people’s clamor to run for president.

Marcos also confirmed that he was invited to be the running mate of Vice President Jejomar Binay and that initial talks were made between their camps.

"But any team up with the Vice President must be rooted on a shared vision for our country, a common platform of government as well as political perspectives.

Unfortunately, it would be difficult for me to tame our political differences,” Marcos said.

Binay, 72 was a human rights lawyer during the Marcos regime and had defended several opposition leaders and personalities in court.

In announcing his vice presidential bid, Marcos said that he believes that elected officials have an obligation to the people to help change the course of the nation’s history by removing the politics of personality.

"To me it (politics of personality) is one of the primary causes why our country today has become a soft state where the rich become richer, the poor become poorer, graft and corruption is endemic, the drug menace pervades, injustice is the norm and government incompetence is accepted is the new normal,” Marcos noted.

With no clear presidential candidate, Marcos said that he have decided to put his political fortune in the hands of the Filipino people and let them judge him if he is worthy of their trust to be Vice President.

"I humbly ask them to judge whether or not I am worthy of their trust to be Vice President on the strength of my performance as a public servant in the last 26 years,” he added in his statement.

Marcos served as governor, vice governor and congressional representative of Ilocos Norte. His initial attempt to get a Senate seat in 1995 ended in a failure. He however, was among the winners in the 2010 senatorial race.

If elected to a higher position, Marcos vowed to prioritize infrastructure, agriculture and education and restore the Filipino pride.

"We had at some point in our history that pride, that sense of nationhood but we see it to have gone astray and we have lost it,” Marcos said in an earlier interview.

Marcos’ announcement of his vice presidential bid now bring the vice presidential race to five-man and a woman fight.

Aside from Marcos, also vying for the post are Senators Francis Escudero, Antonio Trillanes 4th, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Camarines Sur Rep. leni Robredo. Sen. Gregorio Honasan on the other hand has yet to make an announcement regarding his political plans for 2016.