Ilocos Norte — Presidential son and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos revealed black propaganda operations against his mother, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and his grandmother, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

Sandro graced the opening of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair in Ilocos Norte, part of the simultaneous nationwide launch on Saturday, 23 September.

In a press briefing, Sandro said information relayed to his mother indicated a "Ferdinand Macugay" was doing the rounds of Laoag City, handing out cash to barangay chairpersons and claiming the money came from the current and former first ladies.

Hands off politics

"I will say this once and once only, our First Lady never interferes in politics, particularly in Ilocos Norte. We all know the First Lady has different advocacies," the young Marcos said in a statement.

He was referring to the "Lab for all caravan" of the First Lady, where health services are brought closer to the people, among her other advocacies.

Marcos admitted he was annoyed and angered when he heard about the person "roaming around using the names of my mother and grandmother and the Marcos surname."

"Let's not tarnish the name of my mother, especially the name of my grandmother, who is already 93 years old," he said.

Sandro said he knows the barangay elections will be heated as it's been a while since it was last held, but this was not justification for dragging his mother and grandmother into politics.

PBBM leads CamSur launch

Meanwhile, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. graced the launch of the Nabua, Camarines Sur leg of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair.

The Bagong Pilipinas caravan consolidates programs and services of various government agencies in a one-stop-shop.

In his speech, Marcos noted that the government agencies were in "full force" to deliver medical, health, financial, livelihood, and education assistance to "give Filipinos new hope and a new beginning."

"This program is just one of the first initiatives of the government to give Filipinos new hope and a new beginning. Our islands may be detached from one another, but we are united by one spirit and one dream — the new Philippines for the new Filipino," Marcos said in the vernacular.

Lade Jean Kabagani @tribunephl_Lade