Palace: Joke about President’s health ‘improper’
Is blood thicker than water? Not in Filipino politics. Not really.
Malacañang on Sunday called out Sen. Imee Marcos for joking about the health of her brother, President Marcos, who was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday because of diverticulitis, a nonlethal condition common to aging individuals frequently under stress.
In a message to reporters, Palace press officer Claire Castro said the senator should “not to make a joke out of the President’s health.”
“Do not act like comedians or clowns when giving advice. A person who has gone through an illness needs genuine concern and compassion,” she said. “Do not be hypocritical in the eyes of the public.”
Castro’s statement was in response to Imee’s video post on Saturday evening, blaming “people around” the President.
“No one is taking care of him. Among all of you around the Palace, who truly loves my brother?” the senator said in Filipino. “His health will give out. Everyone there has their own agenda, and no one is really looking after him.”
But the 68-year-old leader himself appeared in a video message a few hours after he returned from the hospital and said: “Don’t get too excited just yet because it’s not a life-threatening condition,” the President said in the video.
Imee’s falling out with the President and the first family emerged publicly in 2024, following the breakup of the political alliance between Mr. Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte.
Imee withdrew from the President’s senatorial ticket and joined the lineup of the PDP-Laban. Since then, she has been hurling insults against her brother, the first lady and even her three nephews.
In a gathering of the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo in November, Imee declared before a crowd of half a million church members that the President, the first lady and her own nephews were drug users.
Malacañang has repeatedly denied the accusations, but the President did not make a public reply until November when he said that the person whom the public sees on television “is not my sister.”
“That’s not her. So, that’s why we worry. So, we are very worried about her. I hope she feels better soon,” he said, rejecting reconciliation with his sister anytime soon.
“We no longer travel in the same circles, political or otherwise. So, no,” he said, when asked if he intended to talk to Imee to resolve their issues.
