By Brian Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has expressed concern over his sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, after she made accusations against him and the First Family—lamenting that the senator’s remarks have alarmed relatives and close friends.
“For a while now, we’ve been very worried about my sister. When I say ‘we,’ I’m talking about friends and family,” the President said during a press conference in Malacañang on Monday.
“The lady that you see talking on TV is not my sister. And that view is shared by our cousins, our friends. Hindi siya ‘yan. That’s why we… are very worried about her. I hope she feels better soon.”
The Chief Executive likewise stressed that he would not address Imee’s accusations, adding that they no longer speak to each other.
“We don’t really… we no longer travel in the same circles, political or otherwise,” he said.
Meanwhile, the President clarified that “there is no bad blood” between him and former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Sec. Amenah Pangandaman after their sudden departure from the Cabinet.
The two officials were tagged in allegations of budget insertions through flood control projects.
“Well, you know, the question about Chief Luc and myself, wala nag-usap na kami and we understand each other and we decided to keep it between ourselves. There’s no bad blood. There is no acrimonious feeling,” he said.
“Si Sec. Mina because her name was dragged into the whole thing,” the President added. “We want to be sure that she’s not in a position where she might be suspected of influencing all that.”
Finance Sec. Ralph Recto was appointed new Executive Secretary, while Usec. Rolando Toledo was designated as Officer-in-Charge of the Budget department.
-jpv
