MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday dismissed speculation that his visit to Naga City, bailiwick of Mayor Leni Robredo, was anything but political although he nonetheless wore pink socks "in her honor." "The most political thing that we did today, I wore my pink socks in honor of Mayor Leni," said the President, referring to the color pink that Robredo used in her presidential campaign in 2022. Marcos was in Naga City to inspect ongoing operations under Oplan Kontra Baha, the national government’s flood mitigation initiative. Speculation swirled about Marcos' visit, with some pundits saying that the President may forge an alliance with his former rival in the 2022 national elections in the wake of Vice President Sara Duterte's annoncement that she would run for the highest office in the land in 2028. Robredo herself has not made any declaration although an early survey on presidential candidates showed that she was 16 points behind Duterte. Marcos, however, insisted that it was not something that he and Robredo discussed and stressed that he was there for "service first before politics." "You know, we are not talking about that. I think the mayor will agree with me that service must go first before politics," Marcos told reporters. Robredo, who defeated Marcos in the vice presidential race in 2016, lost in their rematch during the presidential elections six years later.