Marcos eyes Benhur Abalos' active role in gov't

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. admitted that he wants former Interior secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. to “play a more active part” in his administration.

In a press conference in Kazan, Russia, Marcos said that Abalos has been extending assistance “informally and privately” even though he stepped down as chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in 2024 to run for senator during the 2025 midterm elections.

“I’ll be very candid, I’ll be very frank with you. Of course, I want Benhur to play a more active role in government,” the President said.

“Of course he has been there and he had been helping us in many ways, informally, privately. I wouldn’t mind finding a way for him to help us in an official capacity,” he added.

Marcos, however, explained that welcoming Abalos back to the government does not mean he has to replace a Cabinet member.

On rumors of a cabinet reshuffle, PBBM admits he wants ex-DILG Sec Benhur Abalos to play an active role in govt but this doesn’t mean another official needs to be let go. PBBM says his cabinet is “working well together.” @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/wV2TXnsIjP

— Tina PanganibanPerez (@tinapperez) June 19, 2026

“Just because we want him to join, to play a more active part in government, doesn’t necessarily mean that someone else has to be… It’s not a zero-sum thing in the Cabinet that you have to remove somebody to gain somebody else,” he explained.

The President also maintained that he has a “really good group of people in the Cabinet right now.”

“We’re working well together,” Marcos said.

Abalos was appointed DILG secretary under the Marcos administration in 2022. He was replaced by incumbent DILG chief Jonvic Remulla.

In 2025, Abalos became part of the Marcos administration’s senatorial slate but lost the race after placing 16th.

Last month, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said there had been no discussions regarding speculations that Remulla would be removed from office and replaced by either Abalos or former senator Antonio Trillanes IV. —with reports from Tina Panganiban-Perez/ VAL, GMA News