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Alexis Romero - The Philippine Star
April 13, 2026 | 12:00am
First Lady Liza Marcos shares photos on social media of a dinner date with President Marcos at Solaire on Saturday.
MANILA, Philippines — As social media is flooded with speculations about his health, President Marcos took time to have a dinner date with his wife Liza, ending a worry-filled week rocked by the Middle East tensions and political bickering.
The First Lady posted photos of their dinner at the Finestra restaurant in Solaire last Saturday, less than a week before their 33rd wedding anniversary.
“Sometimes it’s just nice to slow down and enjoy each other’s company. No noise. Just us,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
The past weeks saw Marcos and his officials discussing measures to mitigate the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, which has caused serious supply chain disruptions and unprecedented fuel price surges.
The Marcos administration also had to dispel rumors that the President is seriously ill, even announcing plans to file charges against those behind the “coordinated” disinformation efforts.
Meanwhile, reporters covering the presidency yesterday assailed what they described as “callous” attempts to discredit journalists by accusing them of taking bribes from Malacañang to hide Marcos’ true health condition.
In a statement, the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC), said previous news reports and videos of press briefings clearly showed how its members quizzed government officials on Marcos’ condition.
“The Malacañang Press Corps strongly rejects the allegations that our members are allowing themselves to be used by Malacañang and are being paid to cover up the true state of the President’s health,” the group, which consists of journalists working for newspapers, news websites, radio and television stations, said.
“We condemn the callous attempts to tarnish the credibility of journalists and to mislead our countrymen to pursue the interest of a few,” it added.
Supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s family have accused the mainstream media of covering up the true health status of Marcos, as some online content creators claimed without basis that the President is in a coma or is suffering from stage four colon cancer.
There were also online posts accusing the MPC members of receiving P50,000 from the First Lady and conniving with the administration to deceive the public.
The press corps said the stories written by its members have clear bases, including interviews with people involved in issues and things they have witnessed. Reporters also verify the information they gathered to ensure they are accurate and true before they are shared to the public, the group added.
“The MPC stands by the truthfulness of the reports released by its members in recent weeks,” it said. “These painstaking efforts are not being undertaken by content creators, whose only qualifications are their possession of social media accounts and fertile imagination and their pursuit of a questionable agenda.”
The MPC said a responsible journalist would not make baseless accusations and rumors.
Palace reporters urged the public to be critical and to scrutinize the sources of information.
Last week, the Presidential Communications Office described the surge in disinformation about Marcos’ health as “sudden” and “coordinated.”
