Marcos Jr. drafted as candidate

Marcos Jr. drafted as candidate

MANILA (AFP): The lone son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos announced yesterday he will run for senator under an opposition banner in May.

"What moved me to accept (the opposition draft) was the ideological affinity of my position and that of the Nationalist People's Coalition," said the younger Marcos, 35, who is also named Ferdinand.

He cited their common opposition to the Uruguay Round accords under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which Manila ratified last month.

The younger Marcos now holds the old congressional seat of his father, who had become a senator before he was elected president in 1965. The NPC is the opposition party founded by a former crony of the elder Marcos, businessman Eduardo Cojuangco.