President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denies rumors that he will replace Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and emphasized that he had assembled a great economic team for his administration.

"Fake news. I don’t know where it comes from. Why would I do that? We have assembled a great team. And we’re trying to go down a certain direction. It's wrong, it’s a very, very poor time to, as they say, change horses in midstream," Marcos said in an interview in Pasay City on Tuesday.

Earlier in the same day, Diokno disproved rumors in an interview with reporters at the Stratbase Albert Del Rosario Institute’s Pilipinas Conference 2022 held at the Ayala Museum.

“I don’t know where this is coming from,” he said.

“I am old enough in this game to even bother about this. I just work non-stop, unceasingly to do my job. And I always think what’s the greatest good for the greatest number. Okay? For the country,” he added.

The rumors that Diokno will be replaced by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda surfaced after Marcos appointed Romulo Lumagui as commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, replacing Lilia Guillermo who was appointed in July.

Diokno said he was friends with Salceda and that they even had a group called “Friday Friends Forever”.

Salceda previously rejected claims that he was going to take over as Finance chief.

“I have nothing to do or start this DOF (Department of Finance) news flow. Not my style,” Salceda said in a statement released on Monday.

Salceda said that he is good friends with Diokno and will continue to "work closely" with him while he remains in the DOF.

“Sec. Ben is a good friend and as long as he’s SOF (Secretary of Finance), I will work closely with him,” Salceda said.

“The President ultimately makes the decisions on appointments. The Cabinet, after all, is his official family. He has an SOF already. Until he says otherwise, any talk of any appointment is pointless speculation,” he added. Robina Asido, Jaspearl Tan/DMS