MALACAÑANG on Monday, April 23, was ecstatic over a social media post by actress and former presidential sister Kris Aquino on President Rodrigo Duterte's landslide win in the 2016 elections.
Aquino's post, which ended with an emoji of a fist bump, hinted of remorse in endorsing losing presidential candidate Manuel "Mar" Roxas II. The fist bump is Duterte's hand sign.
"Welcome on board, Kris Aquino," Roque said.
On Sunday, April 22, Aquino vented her frustrations over the television exposure of her former husband, basketball star James Yap, on "Rated K," the magazine show of Roxas's wife, broadcaster Korina Sanchez.
In a lengthy post on her social media accounts, Aquino took a swipe at Roxas's presidential bid as she felt slighted by Sanchez's feature story on Yap, which she described as a "slap to her face."
She lamented that she campaigned for Roxas at the request of her brother, then President Benigno Aquino III, and at the risk of being bashed.
"Sampal sa mukha ko ang inilabas na feature ngayong gabi nung misis ni Mar Roxas. (The feature story that the wife of Mar Roxas aired on the night of April 22 is a slap to my face," she said.
"Si PRRD lahat nung pagkakataon na nagkaharap kami, mabuti ang pinakita sa kin. (PRRD - President Rodrigo R. Duterte - treated me with kindness)...Now it's clear to me why Duterte won as president," she added.
Duterte was proclaimed winner in the 2016 presidential elections after garnering more than 16 million votes, a margin of more than six million votes over Roxas, his closest rival.
Roque also affirmed that Duterte has been kind to the Aquino family, especially when he expressed support to 1987 Edsa Revolution led by the late president Maria Corazon "Cory" Aquino.
"President Duterte has not shown anything bad at her family," he said.
"That's what the President had also told me. You know, the President also supported Cory during the (1986) Revolution. And President Duterte also supported all campaigns of the Aquino family in Davao City," the Palace official added. (Ruth Abbey Gita/SunStar Philippines)