Bongbong vows fair fight as VP race becomes nasty

As the race for the vice presidency begins to get personal, vice presidential aspirant Sen. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’’ R. Marcos Jr. vows to fight fairly.

‘’I believe God is my armor, the truth is my weapon,’’ Marcos said as he shrugged off the smear campaign against him and presidential candidate Senator Miriam DefensorSantiago.

Those behind such a campaign ‘’could just be afraid of the “MiriamBongbong” tandem,’’ he said.

Marcos issued the statement after receiving reports that text messages have been circulating besmirching his and Santiago’s names.

“Well, the attack has been launched against me and the machinery of the clique behind this is strong. But with the truth and the trust of people behind me, they will fail in their dirty propaganda tactics,” he said.

Issue-based campaign The son of the late strongman, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, the young Marcos said he expects more foul, ugly and below the belt non-issue allegations to be hurled against him.

He, however, assured the Filipino electorates that he would not resort to such simi- lar black propaganda against his rivals but would stick to a fair and issue-based campaign. Marcos had been addressing questions on the ‘’dark period’’ that was the martial law regime of his late father and is prepared to do the same as the May 2016 national election nears.

There is concern about Santiago’s fitness to become a full-time President should she become president.

Santiago revealed she has licked lung cancer (Stage 4). Fellow Sen. Sergio R. Osmeña III, a known political strategist advised Santiago to take care of herself and make sure her illness does not recur citing past cases.

Tandem adopts Isko Meanwhile, Marcos announced that the Santiago-Marcos tandem is adopting Manila Vice Mayor Francisco Domagoso (Isko Moreno) in their senatorial slate.

Asked to comment on Marcos’ statement, Moreno said: “I am honored and humbled.’’

“I would like to thank Senator Marcos and I was not even expecting it at all considering that they don’t have a senatorial line-up yet,” Moreno said.

Marcos said one of the reasons why he chose Moreno is his experience in local government.

The senator from Ilocos Norte who surprised supporters when he decided to run for vice president said the national government needs officials who have a genuine concern for local government units.

“That is why we are very supportive of Moreno. To us, there is a need for more local officials going up to the national level because their hearts reside in the local constituencies.

Before winning a seat in the 24member Senate following the May 2013 senatorial elections where he placed seventh, Marcos had served as vice governor, governor and congressman of Ilocos Norte.

Marcos said his and Santiago’s camp are firming up details of their alliance.