Marcos: No Cabinet post offer from Duterte yet

Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said President Rodrigo Duterte has not yet offered him any Cabinet post, but would be glad to serve if he was offered one.

"If a president asks you to serve in whatever capacity, hindi mo naman pwede hindian. Siyempre para sa bansa 'yan [you can't just say no. Of course, it's for the country]," Marcos said at the 70th birthday celebration of Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"Of course, I will be happy, I will be proud, I would be honored to serve in any position in the Duterte administration," he added.

The former legislator added talks of his appointment were premature, as he was still covered by the yearlong ban to hold a government position after last year's elections.

However, Marcos said he would be willing to go back to public service.

"If there is a way for me to help this administration, if there is a way for me to serve, in any capacity I would be happy to do it."

Discussions of Marcos' new Cabinet post came after Duterte's firing of Interior secretary Mike Sueno on Monday, over the department's alleged anomalous purchase of ?20-million worth of firetrucks from Austria.

Electoral protest continues

Marcos also admitted there was a school of thought saying that accepting a Cabinet post would be tantamount to abandoning his vice presidential electoral protest.

"I guess we will leave that to the lawyers to study, pero ang pagkaalam ko [but as far as I know], it is only during an election that you are abandoning your protest," he said.

Marcos filed the protest in June 2016, contesting the result of the May 2016 elections and claiming that he lost the vice presidency to Leni Robredo because of cheating.

"Ako, tuloy lang ang aking protesta. Sa aking palagay ay maipapanalo naman ang ating protesta at doon ako nagco-concentrate ngayon," he added.

[Translation: For me, the protest continues. I believe we can win the protest so that's where I'm currently concentrating.]

Marcos' camp had earlier asked the Supreme Court to junk Robredo's appeal to dismiss the electoral protest on grounds of lack of jurisdiction and insufficiency in form and substance.

The former senator also took a swipe at Robredo's video message before the international community criticizing Duterte's drug war.

"At the very least, she was unpatriotic and disloyal to the Philippines. But it is a matter of opinion if she should be impeached because of that," Marcos said.

Asked about House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who had said he was studying filing an impeachment complaint against Robredo, Marcos said this was a matter of opinion.

"It is the initiative of the speaker. Wala tayo magagawa kung iyan ang kanyang paniniwala [We can't do anything if that's what he believes]," he said.

[Source]