President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday brushed aside speculation that his visit to Naga City and meeting with former Vice President — now Mayor — Leni Robredo signaled early political realignments ahead of the 2028 elections.
Asked if the joint appearance hinted at alliances with his former rival, Marcos rejected the idea.
“Alam mo hindi namin pinag-uusapan iyun. I think (Robredo) will agree with me na serbisyo muna bago politika,” Marcos told reporters.
He then lightened the mood with a joke:
“The most political thing that we did today, I wore my pink socks in honor of Mayor Leni,” he said, drawing laughter from Robredo and other officials.
Pink was Robredo’s campaign color during her 2022 presidential bid.
The two leaders inspected flood control projects in Naga, a flood-prone city in Camarines Sur, as part of disaster mitigation efforts in Bicol.
Marcos emphasized that the visit had been scheduled months in advance due to the area’s “critical” flooding problem.
“We are here to try and find solutions to this very important, very critical problem not only in Naga City and (Camarines Sur) and for that matter for the whole of Bicol,” he said, adding, “Again, again this is all politics… What we are here for is to try and find solutions.”
Robredo earlier said she was confident politics would not be raised during the event.
While the joint appearance fueled talk of possible 2028 scenarios, Marcos insisted the focus was public service, not politics.