The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

MANILA (Reuters) – The Oxford-educated son of the Philippines’ former dictator Ferdinand Marcos wants to follow the footsteps of his namesake father by winning a seat in the upper house of Congress in May as a first step toward the presidency.

“If we succeed in what we are doing now, it wouldn’t be bad to be president. The presidency would be a good cap to one’s political career,” Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr told foreign correspondents in Manila.

The 52-year-old congressman from the northern Ilocos Norte province, his father’s bailiwick, recently launched his second attempt to run for senator. He lost in the 1995 polls, claiming he was cheated of a seat in the 24-member Senate.

His father started his career in the post-war Philippines as a congressman, then was a senator before becoming the country’s longest serving president. Marcos ruled as a dictator in the last 14 of his 20-year rule and was ousted in 1986 by an army-backed popular revolt.

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Prayers pour in from friends, political foes
Former Philippine President Corazon “Cory” Aquino has refused further chemotherapy or any other medical treatment in her battle against colon cancer, her spokesman said in comments published Thursday.
The 76-year-old Aquino, who led the Philippines from 1986 to 1992 after the fall of Ferdinand Marcos, was admitted to a Manila hospital last week, and is reportedly being fed intravenously.

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Former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino celebrated her 76th birthday Sunday in a chapel of the Missionaries of the Child Jesus in Makati City.

The mass was celebrated together with her family and friends. The former president said the chapel is special for her since it was built by the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin who, like her, was also a key figure in the 1986 EDSA revolution that ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and catapulted Mrs. Aquino into power.

“Cardinal Sin happens to be one of my favorite people and it’s as if I feel that he is with us now and still praying for me,” said the former president.

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