Bongbong Marcos skips presidential forum to cook 'bagnet' and 'pinakbet'

ICYMI, online furor emerged yesterday after presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. declined to attend the live presidential forum hosted by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) due to “scheduling conflicts,” broadcast today across its 300 member stations nationwide — giving rise to the hashtags #MarcosDuwag (#MarcosCoward), #MarcosDuwagPaRin (#MarcosStillACoward) and #BaBackOutMuli (#BackingOutAgain), a pun on his BBM initials.

Amid today’s live forum, attended by five candidates — senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao, Vice President Leni Robredo, labor leader Leody de Guzman, and Manila mayor Isko Moreno — who bared their platforms and insights on important issues, the Rated Korina Facebook page released photos of Bongbong Marcos in his taped interview with star journalist Korina Sanchez, where he showed the magazine show host how to cook dishes from his hometown of Ilocos: bagnet and pinakbet.

Both bagnet and pinakbet are well-known dishes from the northern region, with the former being a deep-fried pork belly dish, while pinakbet is a medley of vegetables sautéed in bagoong or fermented fish paste.

In a Facebook post on the Rated Korina page, Sanchez revealed that viewers can get the unabridged special on her YouTube channel, while a shorter version will be televised nationwide.

Sanchez also gave a run-down of some of the questions she threw at the former senator.

“Finally, the last of the 5 presidentiables interviewed for our Presidentiables Special on #RatedKorina this weekend, Bongbong Marcos.”

“Sample questions I asked:

You may swear to the 1987 constitution if you win, a departure from your father’s 1973 Constitution.

Mag charter change ka ba? Are you a dictator?

Will your wife Lisa be anything like Imelda Marcos?

Was history revised because of your trolls?

How much like your father’s presidency will your presidency be if you win?

Are you disqualifiable?

Handa ka na kapag nanalo ka posible parin you are disqualified and Sara Duterte assumes presidency?

More than one Marcos in government. Will you support anti-dynasty bills?

Drugs. Do you do drugs? What will be your policy on drugs and on corruption?”

“Patikim lang yan. Lahat naman sinagot. Nagluto din kami ng pinakbet at bagnet Ilocos style (That’s just a taste of what’s to come. Every question was answered. We also cooked pinakbet and bagnet Ilocos style),” Sanchez added.

Interestingly, however, the Rated Korina host added, “To be clear: When we invited BBM it was his team who chose the time and date. We had no choice.”

Meanwhile, the KBP said that they had sent out invites to the presidential forum as early as December.

READ: The #MarcosDuwag fiasco has a sequel, after Bongbong Marcos declines another presidential forum