President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday endorsed only 11 senatorial candidates from the administration’s Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate during a campaign rally in Laguna, leaving one slot unmentioned in his speech.
“Huwag nating gawing alyansa lamang nitong 10, 11 na tao, 11 na kandidato na tumatakbo bilang senador na kasama sa Alyansa,” Marcos said, without naming who was left out.
Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister, and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar were absent from the Laguna rally—mirroring their absence during another sortie in Cavite a day earlier. Marcos Jr. mentioned Villar in his speech but not Imee.
Despite their absence, campaign manager Rep. Toby Tiangco clarified there were “no talks of dropping” Imee or Villar from the admin ticket.
When asked, Imee Marcos responded during a Saturday forum:
“Yung tungkol sa rally na hindi na ako binanggit, okay lang… total sinabi ko naman mula’t sapul, baka mauwi ito sa away-away ng dalawang panig, ayoko maipit,” she said.
She added that communication with her brother has been difficult:
“Hindi ko nakakausap ang aking kapatid kundi sa publiko at maraming humaharang.”
Imee previously skipped the Tacloban rally on March 14, expressing opposition to the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“This is way past Marcoses or Dutertes or politics or the elections. This is really the most important argument today,” she said, referring to the issue as a matter of national sovereignty.
