MANILA, Philippines — It’s official: Senator Imee Marcos said she was withdrawing from the administration’s Senate slate.
In a press conference on Monday, she said the decision was meant to protect her younger brother President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from being placed at risk and to shield her friends from getting hurt.
“Para hindi na malagay sa alanganin ang kapatid ko, kasi kinakabahan na nga siya baka ano raw – eh, ‘yung aking ading e baka malagay pa sa alanganin at ‘yung mga kaibigan [ay] masaktan, maigi na ‘yung tumayo akong mag isa kahit napakahirap tumayong mag isa,” Sen. Marcos told reporters.
(To keep my brother from getting into a difficult situation, since he’s already nervous about what might happen – and to avoid putting my little brother at risk or causing my friends to get hurt, it’s better for me to stand alone, even though standing alone is really hard.)
According to Marcos, she was well aware of the hardships that she would face with her decision. She, however, emphasized that she needs to be “free and strong” to “cross the line, talk to all parties and get things done.”
“Maraming nagsasabi noon na ako’y namamangka sa dalawang ilog. Ang ninanais ko ay ako ang daan kung saan magtatagpo ang lahat ng ilog. Tangway, ika nga sa atin. It’s a tremendous sacrifice to stand alone,” said the senator.
(Many people are saying that I am sailing in two rivers, but what I intend to do is to be the path where all rivers meet. A peninsula, as we would say.)
“Uniteam was a dream that I shared in 2022. And I hold fast to that dream of unity for all Filipinos,” she added.
Marcos was later asked if this meant that she was withdrawing from her brother’s official Senate slate, to which she answered: “Yes, obvious ba (Isn’t it obvious)?”
READ: Sen. Imee Marcos on 2025 reelection bid: ‘I choose to stand alone’
The senator then admitted that she had not discussed the matter yet with President Marcos, but she did tell her mother about it.
“Yung nanay ko nalulungkot eh. Sabi niya, bakit naman gano’n? Sabi ko, mas maganda naman para sa pamilya, para sa kabutihan ng lahat. Para nakakausap natin lahat ng sektor, meron tayong daan na makisuyo sa iba’t ibang panig. At yun naman ang turo ng aking ama, isang bansa, isang diwa. Huwag tayo magkawatak-watak,” she said.
(My mother got sad. She asked me why it became like that. I said it would be better for the family, for the good of everyone. So we can engage with all sectors and have a way to reach out to different sides. That’s what my father taught us: one nation, one spirit. Let’s not be divided.)
Pressed to elaborate on whether or not she intends to resolve the supposed rift between her brother and Vice President Sara Duterte, the senator said it was only “secondary,” next to her desire to stand free and alone.
Last September 26, President Marcos announced the 12 senatorial candidates he is endorsing for the 2025 elections. The Marcos administration’s senatorial slate are members of the newly-formed political coalition “Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas.”