PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. dismissed as “fake news” reports that Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno will exit the Department of Finance (DoF).
“Fake news. I don’t know where it comes from,” Mr. Marcos told reporters when asked about Mr. Diokno’s status.
A website reported on Monday that Mr. Marcos is looking to replace Mr. Diokno and named as a possible replacement Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda, who chairs the House ways and means committee.
“Why would I do that? We’ve assembled a great team,” Mr. Marcos said. “We’re trying to go down a certain direction. It’s the wrong — it’s very, very poor time to… change horses in midstream.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Diokno described his relations with the President as “very good.”
“I don’t know where this is coming from. I’m old enough in this game to even bother about this. I just work nonstop,” he told reporters.
He said he has spoken with Mr. Salceda about the matter.
Mr. Salceda, an economist, has also rejected speculation that he is in line for the DoF.
Mr. Salceda said on Monday that he didn’t “start this DoF news flow.”
“In past administrations, as in the present, I was able to move fiscal policy from my seat in Congress,” he said in a statement. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza