Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday, January 14 rejected Sen. Imee Marcos' insinuations that he is gay, and also said that there is nothing in his body that is fake.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson and Senator Imee Marcos (Senate PRIB photos)

Lacson is referring to Marcos’ statement against him after he denied her allegations that the members of the Senate minority bloc are being barred from speaking during the hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the flood control issue.

“Okay. Magsabunutan daw kami. Yan na reaction ni Sen. Imee Marcos sa issue ng di umano ay pork barrel sa 2026 GAA (We should pull each other’s hair. That’s Sen. Imee Marcos’ reaction on the issue regarding the existence of pork barrel in the 2026 General Appropriations Act), allocables and her baseless insults and untruthful criticisms against the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which I chaired,” Lacson said during a Kapihan sa Senado forum.

“Either Sen. Imee thought na piluka yung buhok ko (that my hair is a wig), or she was insinuating na bakla ako (That I am gay); kaya siya naghamon ng sabunutan (that’s why she challenged me to a hair-pulling fight). On both counts, I say nothing can be farthest from the truth,” he said.

“Una, hindi po piluka ang aking buhok. Idugtong ko na rin na walang peke sa mukha ko.

Hindi rin pustiso ang ngipin ko (First of all, my hair is not a wig. In addition, nothing is fake in my face. My face are also all natural). My teeth are all mine. Ulitin ko, walang peke sa anumang bahagi ng aking mukha (I repeat, nothing is fake in any part of my face),” he reiterated.

“Pangalawa, lalong hindi ako bakla. At kung iniisip ni Sen. Imee na bakla ako, wala siyang maaaring makita na macho dito sa mundo (Secondly, I am not gay. But if Sen. Imee thinks I am gay, then she couldn’t have seen any macho anywhere in the world),” he added.

Lacson clarified, however, that he has nothing against homosexuals: “It’s their choice and I respect them for that. But as far as I’m concerned, masarap pa rin maging tunay na lalaki (it’s still rewarding to be a real man),” he pointed out.

Lacson cited Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and former Sen. Gringo Honasan, whom he said are also real men.

“Macho din po ako. Lalaking-lalaki (I’m also macho. A real man). Period. End of discussion,” he said.

Sought to comment on Lacson’s statement, Marcos, in her Facebook post, denied that she insinuated that the senator is gay.

“Hindi ko naman sinabihang bakla siya, pero napakababaw pala ng kahulugan niya sa kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng tunay na lalaki (I didn’t say he is gay, but his definitition of what is a real man is so shallow),” Marcos retorted.

“Walang masama sa pagiging bakla, at ganoon din sa pagpapa-enhance ng kahit ano para sa sarili mo (There’s nothing wrong with being gay, and the same goes with the decision to enhance any part of yourself),”  she said.

“Desisyon ng tao kung gusto niyang magpagawa ng kahit ano sa sarili niya. Desisyon niya rin kung gusto niyang sirain ang mukha, pangalan at dignidad niya. Parehas ‘yang natatanong ng ‘magkano?’ (It’s up to the person if he wants to fix anything on his self. It’s also his decision if he wants to destroy his face, name and his dignity. Both can be asked ‘how much’?)” she stressed.

Lacson earlier rebuked Marcos for mocking the 2026 national budget which she said was “chopped” and still had pork barrel. She also claimed that this was done in preparation for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Marcos also claimed that members of the minority were being limited to ask questions during the Senate blue ribbon committee probe into the flood control projects to prevent them from asking questions about the possible involvement of her cousin former House speaker Martin Romualdez.

According to Lacson, such is not the case saying no one in the blue ribbon panel, which she is also a member, has asked them not to mention Romualdez’s name.

The Senate blue ribbon chairman also disclosed that Marcos had “allocables” in the 2025 national budget worth P2.5-billion based on the so-called “Cabral files.”