Senator Imee Marcos at the Senate committee on foreign relations hearing on the locations of EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) sites. Mark Demayo ABS-CBN News/file

MANILA — Sen. Imee Marcos on Saturday said that she has chosen “to stand alone” in the run-up to the 2025 midterm elections, but stopped short of categorically saying if she would officially pull out from “Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas 2025” (Alyansa), her brother’s official senatorial slate. 

Sen. Marcos gave released the statement 2 days after the administration-backed Alyansa senatorial slate was launched, an event which she skipped despite being spearheded by her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

“I offer my heartfelt gratitude to President Bongbong, who, despite the anger and extreme cruelty of some, came to my defense and included me in the alliance,” the senator’s statement read.

“I chose to stand alone so that my ading (younger sibling) will no longer be put in a difficult position, and my true friends won’t have to hesitate,” she said, without giving details why the President was supposedly placed in a tight spot.

Sen. Marcos said she is taking a cue from their father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who marks his 35th death anniversary at the time the statement was released. 

“It is never easy to stand alone, in campaigns and in politics… But that is the legacy my father left me, that is the legacy of Apo Lakay whom we remember today,” she said. 

“I choose to remain free and loyal—not to any group, but to every Filipino,” she said. 

ABS-CBN News reached out to Sen. Marcos to clarify if she has formally withdrawn from the Alyansa, but she has yet to respond. 

The administration coalition will “continue supporting her,” Alyansa campaign manager Toby Tiangco told ABS-CBN News when asked is Sen. Marcos has been taken off the slate and if the coalition would find someone to fill a supposed vacancy. 

“Patuloy na susuporta ang Alyansa kay Sen. Imee para sa tagumpay ng legislative agenda ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos Jr. para sa kaunlarang walang maiiwan at para sa magandang kinabukasan nating lahat,” Tiangco said in a statement. 

“Malaki ang respeto at paghanga natin kay Sen. Imee Marcos, lalo na sa kanyang mga adbokasiya at track record sa serbisyo publiko,” he said. 

“Naniniwala ang Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas sa kakayahan niyang maglingkod nang tapat sa mga Pilipino,” he added. 

Sen. Marcos — who will run for reelection next year — has been vocal about her support and friendship with Vice President Sara Duterte, even after the second-in-command bolted away from her brother’s Cabinet. 

The senator has repeatedly slammed rumors of a possible impeachment case against Duterte, and has pushed for the reinstatement of her security detail after the hundreds-strong force was reduced. 

Despite these, Duterte had said that she would “never again" team up with the Marcos family after she resigned as Marcos Jr.’s Education secretary in mid-June.

The Vice President has also repeatedly criticized House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez — the Marcos’ cousin — for allegedly manipulating the annual budget and using the House of Representatives to launch political attacks against her and the Office of the Vice President.