Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos (Facebook)

Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos has categorically denied a long-running rumor that former senator and interior secretary Mar Roxas would be tapped as full-time Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary.

Rep. Marcos did so during a recent Twitter exchange with journalist Mark Lopez.

It began when Lopez tweeted about recent revelations from columnist Rigoberto Tiglao that Roxas himself had told a group of friends about his upcoming appointment as DA secretary. Tiglao supposedly received this information from "a very apolitical source".

Seeing Lopez's tweet, the presidential son replied: "Sorry Mark but this isn’t true in the slightest." He followed it with a laughing face emoji.

The Ilocos congressman's father, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., has been serving as concurrent agriculture chief since he assumed the Palace seat on June 30, 2022.

Roxas is also a former Liberal Party (LP) president. He was the party's standard-bearer during the 2016 national elections, having been "anointed" by the late former president Benigno S. Aquino III.

Roxas, known for his "Mr. Palengke" persona, has kept a rather low profile since losing in the 2016 presidential race.

When Lopez thanked Rep. Marcos for denying the information on Roxas's appointment, the latter replied: "Anytime :) Ingat lagi (Always take care) and hope to see you soon 🙏🏽"

The younger Marcos is a senior deputy majority leader in the House of Representatives.

Some House members have called on the President to designate a full-time head over at the DA so that he may focus on his other functions.