“Relatively normal” was how Vinny Marcos, son of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., recalled his childhood in their family’s Ilocos Norte home province.

During the sit-down interview with Boy Abunda aired Wednesday, the 24-year-old revealed that he grew up by the beach.

“From my childhood, most of the time, it was in Ilocos. And it wasn't even in Laoag. It is by the beach. I grew up next to the beach,” he said.

“I was never influenced by money or buying expensive stuff. My dad is kuripot.”

His mother, Liza Araneta-Marcos, added that the kids used to give out food to fishermen’s children.

Vinny, whose real name is William Vincent, is back in the Philippines to support his father’s bid to return to Malacañang, 36 years after Ferdinand Marcos was ousted during the EDSA People Power Revolution.

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He had been staying in Singapore for 2 years already and has been working as a software engineer.

Vinny said he was trying to stay out of the public eye as much as he could given the profession he chose to pursue.

“I'm really trying to stay out of public life if I can help it. I'm a software engineer so all the publicity in the world can't help your code. It's not my thing. I don't go on Instagram, Twitter,” he told Abunda.

However, he realized he needed to back the presidential bid of his father in 2022 national polls.

“I want my father to be happy amongst anything else. I want him to do whatever he feels in order to feel fulfilled. In that case, I do support my father just because I want him to be happy,” Vinny explained.

Pressed about the criticisms hurled against the Marcoses, Vinny said he is used to it, having received hate comments since he was a kid.

“I'm born with my name. For me, it's just my father's name, my family name. Obviously, it has so much meaning. I've always gotten those comments even when 3 years old or something,” Vinny said.

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“What can you really do? You can't debate when you're 5 years old. Just take it. My dad naman is very positive about it. He just says, 'Don't worry about them. We're just trying to be good.'”

Meanwhile, Vinny and Liza declined to share their plans should the Marcos patriarch win the presidency in May.

Liza said the family thought they were going to win in the vice-presidential race in 2016.

“No amount of lead can make me comfortable with speculating what I'm gonna do after election,” Vinny said.

Vinny said he hoped critics would take an objective view about their family and politics: “I think in politics, there is a tendency to paint people very good or very evil. If I think he is the greatest person in the world, then he can't be all that bad. Maybe, try to take a more objective view.”

Aside from Vinny, Bongbong and Liza have 2 other sons, Sandro and Simon.

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