Opposition Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Sunday night countered an allegation by President Duterte that actress Sharon Cuneta, wanted Pangilinan out of their house.
To disprove Duterte’s allegation, Pangilinan posted a picture of him with wife Sharon which was captioned “Relaks muna kasama si Sharon, matapos ang buong araw sa bukid kasama nina Miguel, Zsa Zsa, at Conrad.”
(Relaxing with Sharon after a whole day spent at the farm with Miguel, Zsa Zsa, and Conrad),” Pangilinan said.
In a speech last Saturday during the 156th birth anniversary of Gat Andres Bonifacion in Caloocan City, Duterte said he had information that Sharon tried to kick Pangilinan out of the couple’s house.
“Pinapaalis na nga ng asawa niya sa bahay niya, ayaw kay wala ibang matirahan. Totoo.
Tanungin mo. At kung sabihin mo nagsisinungaling ako, I will resign. Ang sinasabi ko totoo ‘yan,” Duterte said.
(He [Pangilinan] was being forced out of their house by his wife, but he won’t since he has no place to live. That’s true. You can ask around. And when you find out that I am lying, I will resign. What I’m telling you is the truth),” Duterte said.
In her Facebook account, Cuneta said Duterte could have been just joking as her husband is from the opposition.
Sen. Pangilinan is president of the Liberal Party.
She said the last time she was able to speak with Duterte was during the May elections.
“So, I don’t know where this is coming from, honestly. If my husband and I separate, you’ll hear it from me! I don’t think anyone expects an announcement of this sort from the President of their country. Tatay (Duterte) likes to joke sometimes, as you all know, because Kiko’s (Pangilinan’s) in the Opposition.
“He (Duterte) has joked a few times against Kiko and about me in the past. Please rest assured that all is fine with my family. My stress comes from other people and things but right now my family and marriage have never been happier! God bless you all! Love you guys,” she said.
Frankie Pangilinan, daughter of Sharon and Kiko, reacted vehemently on Twitter.
She posted a series of tweets, starting with, “Hala buti pa siya alam,” in reaction to a post of CNN Philippines on Duterte’s pronouncement about her parents’ relationship.
She followed this with “actually kaya po ako nasa nyc pati po ako nadamay ayaw na daw po ako @ home.”
The eldest daughter of Kiko and Sharon, Frankie is in New York studying.
In another post, she described how she received several online notifications regarding the latest issue on her parents because of Duterte’s claim, and also chided the president for his concern over her family’s affairs: “like imagine being more concerned with ‘ruining’ a perfectly happy family instead of…being…a good leader…”
She also mentioned asking her younger sister, Miel, to ask their parents to smile for a photo. “Just say, ‘smile ate needs it for the revolution.”
