President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has confirmed he wants defeated senatorial candidate Benhur Abalos back in his government — but insists no one currently sitting in the Cabinet will lose their job.

Speaking to reporters in Kazan, Russia on Thursday, June 18, after the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit, Marcos was visibly irritated when asked about persistent rumours of a Cabinet reshuffle. "Okay, I'll be very candid; I'll be very frank with you. Of course, I want Benhur to play a more active role in government," he said.

Abalos resigned as Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in October 2024 to run for senator under the administration ticket. He lost, finishing 16th place. Before that, he served as Marcos' national campaign manager in the 2022 presidential elections, a role that forced him to resign as chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) during the last months of the Duterte administration.

The President made it clear that bringing Abalos back doesn't mean pushing someone out. "Just because we want him to become a more active part of government doesn't necessarily mean that somebody else has to be [removed]. It's not a zero-sum thing in the Cabinet," Marcos said.

"I think we have a really good group of people in the Cabinet right now. And we are working well together.... Why does this subject keep coming up?" — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Marcos frowned as soon as he heard the phrase "Cabinet reshuffle" and dismissed the idea as unnecessary. "Moving people around" just to accommodate other appointees is "counterproductive," he said. "What you are trying to promote in government is stability and the steadiness of work. If you keep moving people around, they have to start learning their job again. We just don't have time for that."

The President also shot down rumours that former Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire would replace Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, saying he only learned about it from the media. On speculation that Abalos would either take over the Department of Justice or return to the DILG, Marcos argued that the current Cabinet members are already doing their jobs well. "The people who are sitting in their particular capacities... are doing the job that they are asked to do and have gained already the experience that they have learned lessons from," he said.

The appointment ban on defeated 2025 candidates expired on May 13, clearing the way for Abalos' return. In late May, Marcos also said he had no plan to sack DILG chief Jonvic Remulla, despite similar speculation.

Abalos has been helping the administration informally and privately since his Senate loss, Marcos revealed. The President said he "wouldn't mind finding a way for him to help us in an official capacity."