President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday that his family and the Aquinos have always been okay despite being considered bitter rivals or on opposite sides of the political fence since the 1970s.
Marcos said this in a media interview after the reporters asked about the details of a meeting between the actress-host’s Kris Aquino's sons, Joshua Aquino and James “Bimby” Aquino Yap, and the First Lady.
The photos from the 9 July meeting, shared by the First Lady, sparked a buzz on social media.
“Well, we’ve always been okay. We just don’t agree politically,” Marcos said of the Marcos-Aquino relations.
“Until the presidency of (the late President Noynoy Aquino) talagang we were on different sides of the political aisle,” he said.
Former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino, the parents of both Kris and Noynoy, fought against the two-decade rule of Marcos Jr.'s father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
The First Lady’s aunt, Rosario Cacho, was married to Aquino’s late uncle, Pedro Cojuangco, who was the brother of the late former president Cory Aquino.
Marcos said more ties brought the two families together as the Chief Executive said the First Lady is Josh and Bimby's auntie.
“What the reports didn’t mention is that Liza is their aunt because her aunt married… the eldest brother of Cory, so they are very closely related,” Marcos said.
“That’s why it’s not surprising that she knows her nieces and nephews very well,” Marcos added.
Marcos said in the same media interview that Kris, who is in the United States for medical treatment, requested assistance from First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos with her travel arrangements.
“The reason why they (Josh and Bimby) visited First Lady is simple. I think it was Kris Aquino who needed some assistance for something,” Marcos told reporters.
“It was just to help them with their travel arrangements. The First Lady helped them. She said they thanked her,” Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“I think it’s a very fine gesture on the part of the Aquino family. I think it sort of put a little more personal, a human interaction between our families,” Marcos added.
Although the Marcoses and the Aquinos have historically been on opposite sides of the political spectrum, there are notable similarities between the two families. Both patriarchs, Marcos Sr. and Ninoy Aquino, who studied at the University of the Philippines (UP), were members of UP’s Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity and served as senators.
At one point, the renowned talk show host Kris Aquino interviewed then-Congressman Bongbong Marcos to present his perspective. During the interview, Kris revealed that she and Marcos were actually godparents to the child of then-Isabela Mayor Bojie Dy.