Days before Christmas, President Marcos took part in a family photoshoot with First Lady Liza Marcos and their children, a moment shared publicly as his administration continues to navigate a series of political disputes that have drawn in close relatives.
The First Lady uploaded images from the shoot to her Facebook account yesterday, featuring the President alongside Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos and their sons, Joseph Simon and William Vincent. Accompanying the photos was her caption: “Christmas family shoot with the people I trust most – a few laughs and a lot of love.”
The timing of the family appearance comes as the President faces intensifying political noise surrounding allegations tied to governance and public spending. One controversy traces back to a flood control scandal that surfaced in July, prompting Marcos to order an investigation into irregularities involving allegedly non-existent or poorly built mitigation projects. The inquiry centers on claims that corrupt officials and contractors siphoned off large amounts of public funds.
The issue later widened into broader accusations involving members of the First Family. In a video statement released late last month, former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co accused Liza Marcos and her relatives of playing a role in the alleged manipulation of onion and rice prices, which surged to record levels in recent years. Co alleged that the First Lady’s brother, Martin Araneta, was involved in onion imports sold for as much as P800 per kilo three years ago and further claimed that the President was linked to questionable insertions in the proposed 2025 national budget.
Malacañang rejected Co’s statements, describing them as “hearsay” and products of a “very fertile imagination,” and urged the former lawmaker to return to the country to face his allegations.
Co, who previously chaired the House appropriations committee, is facing graft and malversation charges and is under an arrest warrant connected to an allegedly anomalous road dike project in Oriental Mindoro. He left the Philippines shortly before the President ordered a probe into the flood control controversy.
The President has also been publicly criticized by his elder sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, who has aligned herself with Vice President Sara Duterte, a vocal critic of the administration. Speaking at an anti-corruption rally organized by the Iglesia ni Cristo on Nov. 17, Imee alleged that the President, the First Lady, and their children were using illegal drugs. She urged her younger brother to end his “suffering” and that of the country, undergo treatment, and “come home.”
The Palace dismissed her remarks as a “desperate” move, while Rep. Sandro Marcos described the accusation as “baseless” and “not the act of a true sibling.”
Addressing the issue in a press conference on Nov. 24, the President spoke candidly about the rift with his sister. “The lady that you see talking on TV is not my sister,” Marcos told reporters at Malacañang. “We no longer travel in the same circles, political or otherwise,” he added.
