Senator Imee Marcos’ relentless verbal assaults against her estranged brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., are doing the country no good and may send a negative signal to the international community, potentially discouraging investors from doing business in the Philippines, a political analyst said Monday.
Ronald Llamas, a former presidential adviser for political affairs, said the country’s political instability—driven by various factors, including the senator’s tirades against the president—could adversely affect economic growth, noting that investors prefer a stable political environment in which to expand their businesses.
“Imee’s statements are purely politically loaded, which doesn’t help [the country], especially when so many investors are keeping an eye on our country,” Llamas said in Filipino during a radio interview.
“Of course, they won’t enter, they won’t invest, if they see things are chaotic—especially when the president’s own sister keeps attacking him nonstop,” he added.
Llamas made the statement in reaction to Senator Marcos’ recent remarks about the administration, in which she appeared to express concern over the president’s health.
President Marcos, 68, was brought to the hospital last week and was diagnosed with diverticulitis—a digestive condition that causes inflammation of diverticula, or small pockets inside the colon.
Senator Marcos suggested that this may have been due to a lack of proper care for her brother in Malacañang.
The president has since been discharged from the hospital and assured the public that his condition was neither severe nor life-threatening.
Llamas agreed with Malacañang’s assessment branding the senator’s statement regarding her brother’s condition as “full of hypocrisy,” citing their political falling out.
“It’s sad that even one’s health is being used to attack a political opponent. So fake,” he stressed.
According to Llamas, anti-administration forces may exploit the president’s health condition to aggressively push impeachment cases pending before the House of Representatives—efforts he doubts will prosper, given that a supermajority of lawmakers is allied with the Chief Executive.
“The president’s opponents will prop themselves up to encourage other politicians to join them. This will be used politically amid our extremely volatile polarization. That’s how I see it,” he said.
President Marcos is facing two impeachment complaints in the House, the latest of which was filed on Monday, January 26.
Petitioners accuse him of graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and betrayal of public trust over alleged irregularities in the budget and for enabling the arrest of his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Another impeachment complaint is expected to be filed by pro-Duterte supporters following their failed attempt last week.