Marcos on Naga visit: Service before politics amid rumors Leni being courted for 2028 polls

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Saturday that his visit to Naga City was not political but part of public service amid rumors that former vice president and Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo is being considered to run for the presidency in the 2028 national elections.

Standing beside Robredo during an inspection of the city’s flood control efforts, Marcos made the assertion in response to a question from reporters if he was "forging alliances" with Robredo.

“Alam mo hindi namin pinag-uusapan iyun. I think mayor will agree with me na serbisyo muna bago politika,” the President said.

(You know, we are not talking about that. I think the mayor will agree with me that service must go first before politics.) 

He added: “The most political thing that we did today, I wore my pink socks in honor of Mayor Leni.”

This is in reference to the color pink that Robredo used in her campaign when she ran and lost to Marcos in the 2022 presidential election.

Marcos added, “We have been planning this for a few months already since the situation in Naga is critical due to its location and heavy volume of rain in the region.”

Marcos afterwards declined to comment on follow up questions on the matter, “Again, again this is all politics, I will not going to, we’re not going to… What we are here for is to try and find solutions to this very important, very critical problem not only in Naga City and CamSur and for that matter for the whole of Bicol. That is what we are concentrating on.”

Earlier, Robredo expressed certainty that Marcos Jr. would not bring up political matters during the event.

Marcos said he will return to Naga to check on the progress of the flood control projects.

Speculations arose after Vice President Sara Duterte announced that she will be running for President in 2028. Duterte was Marcos' running mate as part of their Uniteam ticket. —RF, GMA Integrated News