Diokno says relationship with Marcos remains ‘very good’ amid reported replacement

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Tuesday said he remains to have a “very good” relationship with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., following reports that he is set to be replaced from his post.

According to Diokno, he does not know where reports are coming from that he is supposedly set to be replaced by Albay Representative Jose Maria Clemente “Joey” Salceda.

“I’m old enough in this game to even bother about this. I just work nonstop unceasingly to do my job, and I always think of what’s the greatest good for the greatest number para sa bayan (for the country),” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Pilipinas Conference in Makati.

A recording of the interview was provided by the organizer, Stratbase Albert Del Rosario Institute.

Diokno made the comment after reports circulated that Marcos is looking at appointing Salceda as Finance secretary, which the congressman already earlier denied.

The secretary said he has since spoken with Salceda, whom he described as a friend.

“Magkaibigan kami ni Joey. Mayroon kaming group na ‘FFF’ no — Friday Friends Forever,” he said.

[I am friends with Joey. We have a group ‘FFF’ — Friday Friends Forever.]

In his keynote speech during the Pilipinas Conference in Makati, Diokno spoke of the “new challenges” in rebuilding the economy.

“While the effects of the pandemic still linger and new threats have emerged, we move forward with renewed confidence, equipped with the fiscal tools and strategies required to navigate and environment beset with uncertainties,” he said.

“The task of rebuilding the economy requires a concerted whole of nation effort so let us work together to deliver to the Philippine people a prosperous nation and a secure future,” he added.

The economic team of the Marcos administration earlier unveiled an eight-point agenda which seeks to achieve goals of bringing down the poverty rate to single-digit, and elevate the country’s status as an upper-middle income economy.

“In the immediate term, we will reduce socio-economic scarring from the pandemic, arrest the acceleration of food prices, and ensure sound macroeconomic fundamentals,” Diokno said. —KG, GMA Integrated News