Pres. Marcos ribs Speaker Romualdez over media exposure

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. leaves for Japan to participate at the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Japan Friendship and Cooperation on 15-18 December 2023. (Photo by Yummie Dingding/ PPA POOL)

TOKYO, Japan — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday made light of House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s media exposure. 

Before he left for Japan for activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Japan relations, Marcos poked fun at his cousin while addressing government officials.

“The only person we see on television anymore is Speaker Martin Romualdez. Your life is not exciting enough. You have to find other pursuits to keep you occupied,” Marcos joked at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City. 

While Marcos did not specify further, Romualdez had recently made headlines over initiatives to amend the 1987 Constitution. 

File photo  shows President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. (right) and Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez (left)  

Romualdez was also the subject of Sonshine Media Network International’s controversial report that claimed that the he spent P1.8 billion for travels, a story the network would later admit came from false information. 

It, however, sparked efforts from lawmakers to revoke the network’s franchise after it was pointed out that SMNI allegedly had a pattern of assaulting lawmakers.