QUEZON CITY, (PIA) – Presidential Candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he decided to run for president as other candidates’ platforms were not enough to address economic issues.

In the Chatroom interview with Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar and broadcast personality Erwin Tulfo aired on March 19, Marcos Jr. noted that his fellow candidates are focused on aligning with the opposition while he supported the programs of the current administration.

Marcos Jr. emphasized the importance of providing the public with secured jobs to bring economic activity back that can help Agriculture, Food Supply, Healthcare, as well as  Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) to recover from the crisis brought by the pandemic.

To help the agricultural sector, Marcos will take the concept of his father’s “Masagana 99” program and modernize it to build effective value chain.

“Agriculture should be high in the next administration… para at least napapakain mo (ang mga Pilipino). We have to assure food supply, food security, then food sovereignty”, Marcos Jr. said.

When asked about the health care system of the country, Marcos Jr. admitted that he’s not satisfied with the government’s pandemic response, saying the government should have focused on building centralized hospitals and regional health units.

“Wala tayong itinayo na malaking government hospital since 1985, walang bago”, Marcos noted.

Marcos Jr. believed the system of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) must be “overhauled” to help the people during the pandemic crisis.

The former Senator is not in favor of bringing back the death penalty in the Philippines. He conversed that the death penalty is not really effective in preventing heinous crimes.

"I think there are certain sectors in society that believe that it is, and we have to examine that question very clearly. But as of now, the best that we can do is I think the enforcement is much more important than the actual punishment”, Marcos insisted.

Marcos Jr. stressed that he will continue the programs of President Rodrigo Duterte like the Build, Build, Build and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC).

Meanwhile, to address the controversies thrown at the former senator, Marcos said critics should put his family’s controversies to rest, remarking that it doesn’t address the issues that really matters. (JAFD/PIA-IDPD)