Palace on memo recommending ouster of Speaker Romualdez: It's fake

Malacañang dismissed as fake news the supposed memorandum ordering intensified operations to boost the ratings of the Marcos administration and recommending the removal of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez from his post.

The supposed memorandum was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin. 

At a briefing Wednesday, Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro warned the public against this kind of misinformation.

''It's a fake news. It's fake, so huwag niyo na pagkaabalahanan 'yan,'' Castro said.

(It's a fake news. It's fake so don't bother with it.)

''Huwag po tayong basta maniniwala sa mga fake documents, sa mga dokumentong nagkakalat-kalat. Tandaan natin, uso ngayon ang fake news,'' she added.

(Don't believe in fake documents which are proliferating. Remember, fake news is widespread nowadays.) 

Bersamin, for his part, said his office categorically denies the authenticity of the memorandum.

''Apparently the spurious memorandum is a blatant attempt to spread disinformation and to sow division in the ranks of the administration candidates. It should be dismissed as the handiwork of malicious minds,'' he said in a separate statement.

Laylo survey

In the supposed memorandum, it was indicated that there had been a Laylo Survey presentation on April 8, noting the drop in the approval and trust ratings of President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. since the arrest of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

It was stated there that ''the election situation has changed compared to last month, and needs to be taken seriously.''

''The PR team will need to redouble their efforts over the next month, to undo the damage done by the critics against the Malacañang. Their actions on former President Duterte’s arrest have severely undermined the strong position we have built over more than a year,'' the supposed memo stated.

Further, the memo said Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla had supposedly mentioned that corruption was rampant in the House of Representatives under Romualdez's leadership.

''The President [needs] to make a determined effort to replace the Speaker. The President acknowledged that a strong Congress leader could effectively improve the government’s approval and trust ratings, and said that will consider to place Cong. Tiangco as Speaker Candidate if the result in the House is unsatisfactory,'' the memo read.

Navotas lawmaker Toby Tiangco is the campaign manager of the administration's Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News