Sen. Marcos Says He'll Vote For Miriam As President

Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. today said he will vote for Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago as President in the 2016 elections.

Marcos has been linked with various Presidential contenders, including Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Jejomar Binay. Recently, former President and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said he will run for President if Sen. Grace Poe and Binay were disqualified and that he wants Marcos as his Vice President.

Speaking at the "Kapihan sa Manila Hotel" media forum, Marcos squelched speculations his vote will go to Duterte because like the Davao Mayor he is pushing to instill discipline through the strict implementation of the laws.

"Of course not, I will vote for my President; Sen. Miriam is my President," Marcos averred.

Reiterating that he had entered into a "loose coalition" with Santiago, Marcos also stressed that they agreed on many issues and concerns.

Marcos admitted that he earlier sought the support and endorsement of Duterte, who is his friend. However, he said the situation changed when the latter decided to enter the Presidential race.

Meanwhile, Marcos also said that while there is still no hard data to show the exact correlation of social media and voting preferences Santiago's critics should not underestimate the support she is getting from the netizens.

"But if you look at the demographic of those most active in social media, it is precisely the demographic of the largest sector in our country, the young people," Marcos explained.

He said the youth sector, specifically those aged between 16-35 years old, constitutes 44.4 percent of the country's electorate.

"I would venture to say that all of them are on social media in one form or another," Marcos emphasized.

Like Santiago, Marcos pushed legislation in the Senate for benefits for the youth sector. Marcos is one of the authors of the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform bill that Congress has approved and currently awaiting signature of the President to become a law.