PRESUMPTIVE president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his family flew to Australia for a much-needed “rest and vacation,” his spokesman Vic Rodriguez said yesterday.
Rodriguez, in a press conference, said Marcos will be back by Thursday.
“It is more of a private trip… for a much-needed rest and vacation of president-elect Bongbong,” Rodriguez said.
Asked if Marcos was accompanying his youngest child Vinny, who is reportedly set to study in Australia, Rodriguez said it is a “private family visit” during which the former senator will try to enjoy his remaining days as “citizen Bongbong.”
News of his visit drew some protesters onto the streets of the city of Melbourne.
Rodriguez said Australian Prime Minister Scott John Morrison called up Marcos and congratulated him and the Philippines for the “integrity of the conduct of our elections last Monday.” Morrison also affirmed Australia’s ties and continued cooperation with the Philippines, he said.
Australian media first reported about Marcos’ trip to Australia after some members of Filipino communities in Melbourne gathered in front of an apartment complex to protest Marcos’ presence. A small group carried placards that read, “Tax evaders not welcome here” and “Tyrants not welcome here.”
He also said that it is only the Australian government that could reject a person or prevent him from visiting their country.
On the protest, Rodriguez said the move was embarrassing, and is not in the the character of Filipinos to embarrass their fellow Filipinos abroad.
Marcos’ trip to Australia followed rumors over the weekend that he booked the exclusive island of Amanpulo for a victory party. The Marcos camp denied it.
The president-elect is the son of disgraced dictator Ferdinand Marcos who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 after being ousted by a popular uprising. The family lived famously opulent lifestyles, but denies siphoning off billions of dollars of state wealth.
Marcos Jr’s electoral victory, which returns one of Asia’s most notorious political dynasties to power, has divided the country.
Marcos, 64, won the presidency with nearly 59 percent of the votes last week and will be sworn into office next month.
Meanwhile, a US State Department official said President Joe Biden’s call last week congratulating Marcos Jr. indicates Washington is looking forward to working with the latter.
“The phone call that President Biden placed to president-elect Marcos, of course, in which the President underscored he looks forward to working with the president-elect to continue strengthening our alliance, expanding our cooperation on a broad range of issues,” Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said in a teleconference with Southeast Asia-based reporters. — With Ashzel Hachero and Reuters
