Marcos’ youngest son introduced as ‘special assistant’ to House speaker
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2: Jan. 27, 2:31 p.m.) — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr’s youngest son Vincent has been introduced to members of the House as "special assistant" to Speaker Martin Romualdez, although it is yet unclear if he has been officially named to the post.
Rep. Marissa Del Mar (OFW party-list) told Philstar.com in a text message that the younger Marcos was introduced to the minority bloc as such but also said she wasn't sure if the appointment is official.
"We discussed other important matters [regarding] our bills," she said of the meeting with the president's son, who is also the speaker's nephew.
House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan (4Ps Party-list) posted a photo of the meeting with Speaker Romualdez, the younger Marcos and members of the minority bloc on his Facebook account.
He said in his post that the minority bloc was "delighted to have welcomed the President's son, Vinny Marcos, who joined us [at] this meeting."
Among the photos in Libanan's Facebook post show's the younger Marcos seated behind a name plate identifying him as special assistant to the speaker.
Del Mar said Vincent, whom she described as a "software specialist", would be joining "our weekly meetings."
In a text message later Thursday, she said that she is "not privy to meetings" and that Vincent might not actually attend the minority bloc meetings regularly. "But that was the first introduction," she said.
The minority bloc is supposed to be independent of the House speaker and is expected to act as a check on the majority.
A source told Philstar.com that Vinny was introduced to lawmakers as special assistant to the speaker and would be working at the House of Representatives in a sort of "on-the-job training" to learn about how Congress works. A third source also confirmed that Vincent was introduced to lawmakers as Romualdez's special assistant.
Philstar.com has reached out to Romualdez's staff for comment on whether the youngest presidential son has been officially appointed to the role.
'Stay out of the limelight'
The president's son said in a video interview with media personality Boy Abunda in 2022 that he preferred to stay out of the limelight and disliked the publicity when his father announced his presidential bid.
"I was like, 'Oh, God'. Security. No more freedom, more cameras. Because I really try to stay out of the public eye if I can help it," he said. "I’m a software engineer. All the publicity in the world can't help your code. It's just not my thing."
The youngest son of the president was nevertheless seen joining Marcos Jr. on the campaign trail for the May 2022 elections alongside elder brother Sandro, who is now representative of Ilocos Norte.
Rep. Marcos also worked on Romualdez's staff before running for a House seat. — with Xave Gregorio
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