By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

Philippine presidential frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. has called his late father a “political genius” and mother Imelda the “supreme politician” in his family. 

Still, running for president this year was ultimately his own decision, he told CNN Philippines in a program aired on Tuesday night. 

“Even my father I don’t think would object if I say she’s the supreme politician in the family,” he said. “My father is the statesman. He’s the political genius.” 

A popular street uprising toppled the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986 and sent him and his family into exile in the United States. 

“She has always had a very big influence on everything,” Bongbong said, referring to his mother. “My mother is really a politician. You can see that,” he said in mixed English and Filipino 

He said his mother could connect with anyone — “from her classmate from I don’t know how many years ago to the person working in the wet market to the Queen of England. Everyone becomes her friend.” 

“I can say that I learn something new every time I talk to my mother, especially in a serious talk about politics. I always learn something new. So, yes, she has always had a very big influence on everything,” he added. 

Mr. Marcos, who is leading in presidential opinion polls, has been criticized for failing to join national debates and refusing to answer questions from media. 

Arjan P. Aguirre, an instructor at the Ateneo De Manila University’s Political Science Department, said the CNN interview showed that his campaign seeks to boost the nostalgia for his father’s martial rule and political vision. 

“It is part of a larger political project that is meant to give the ideational foundation for the return of the Marcoses to power,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “This has been going on for decades and it all started after their return in the early 1990s.” 

“Upon closer look at the ‘supreme politician’ description of his mother reveals to us how Mr. Marcos, Jr sees her mother in terms of her role and participation in the conjugal dictatorship of the past and the current effort to rebrand the Marcosian political ethos,” he said, noting that he continues to present his family as a majestic dynasty that should be recognized. 

“This statement only tells us that Imelda is an active player to all of these, that she has been there from the start,” Mr. Aguirre said. 

The Marcoses have been accused of living lavishly in the Philippine presidential palace while Filipinos suffered from a collapsing economy, which declined by 7.3% in 1984 and 1985. 

Mr. Marcos acknowledged his privileged life and said he had been told by his family that everything and all the advantages they’ve had “come from the people.” 

He vowed to prioritize prices and jobs if he becomes president. 

“Another way of looking at it is that maybe his father was indeed a political genius by prolonging his term and silencing his critics,” said Jan Robert R. Go, who teaches political science at the University of the Philippines. 

More than 70,000 people were jailed, about 34,000 were tortured and more than 3,000 people died under the dictator’s martial rule, according to Amnesty International. 

“Like his father, Marcos, Jr. is a weaver of false narratives to reverse history for his family’s gain,” former congresswoman Liza L. Maza, one of the activists who suffered under martial rule, said in a Messenger chat. 

Mr. Marcos said he would strengthen the Presidential Commission on Good Government — created in the 1980s to recover ill-gotten assets of his father and his cronies — and task it to go after new targets. “Instead of directing themselves against the Marcoses only, if I have a relative who is corrupt, then that person’s name will come out, not only us, everyone.” 

The dictator stole as much as $10 billion (P522 billion) from the Filipino people, according to government estimates, earning him a Guinness World Record for the “greatest robbery of a government.” 

Marcos, Jr.’s answers during the CNN interview showed he continues to deny that atrocities were committed during his father’s martial rule, said Maria Ela L. Atienza, a political science professor at UP. “This is an insult not only to the victims but the Filipino people as a whole,” she said in a Viber message. 

His refusal to acknowledge history is a betrayal of his unity promise and is a recipe for political disaster, she added. “If he wins, he will be a very divisive president. He has also not proven that he has the smart mind and tactics of his parents.” 

Emy Ruth Gianan, who teaches economics at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, said a potential Marcos presidency could lead to “economic instabilities.” 

His unity message might be bad for the economy because it may pose serious challenges to the government’s anti-corruption drive, she added. 

“A potential Marcos presidency would also not enjoy the trust and support of the international community, in terms of grants and funding, given the sins of their family,” she said. “Altogether, such leadership would not bode well for an already fledgling economy like the Philippines.” 

Political instability under a potential Marcos presidency is “not far-fetched,” said Zyza Nadine Suzara, a public finance expert and executive director of I-Lead. “If that happens, the economy will be in shambles because instability does not inspire business confidence.”  

“It could worsen prospects for strong recovery. In the end, ordinary Filipinos will again suffer the adverse impacts of an economy that is in disarray,” she said in a Messenger chat.