President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday spoke to scientists and students, urging them to study well while baring his supposed failure to become a scientist himself.
“All my scholastic career was spent on science. It was only towards the end that it was explained to me by my father that, ‘Mahirap yung science, hindi ka yayaman diyan,'” Marcos said on Friday, October 14, at the 8th Annual Balik Scientist Program Convention.
“Boy, if you were alive now, I would like to introduce him to Elon Musk, I’d like to introduce him to [Jeff] Bezos, I’d like to introduce him to Microsoft, to Apple, so that is why I feel strongly about it,” he added.
He assured scientists of his administration’s support “to make science an instrument of progress and prosperity for the Filipino.”
Marcos also called himself a “frustrated scientist.”
“I suppose with the words I am saying, you would be able to detect that I am a frustrated scientist,” the president said.
Marcos academic portfolio
There are no immediate records indicating that Marcos’ early years in school were focused on science before he shifted to another academic track.
On his official website, Marcos’ academic portfolio shows that he earned a Special Diploma in Social Studies from Oxford University in 1978.
He also enrolled at the Wharton School of Business for a Master of Business Administration, which he failed to finish after being elected in 1980 as Vice Governor of Ilocos Norte.
For his primary education, Marcos attended La Salle Greenhills in 1964.
On the other hand, he completed his secondary education in 1974 at Worth School in West Sussex, England.