Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has vehemently denied explosive allegations from his estranged sister, Senator Imee Marcos, that he is a long-term cocaine addict whose alleged drug dependence has affected his governance.
Family Feud Erupts Over Drug Claims
The extraordinary public confrontation between the siblings emerged when Senator Imee Marcos made the damaging claims during a speech before a large religious rally in Manila. She asserted that her brother's alleged drug addiction began during their father's presidency and has continued to the present day.
Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro immediately dismissed the allegations as completely baseless and suggested they represented a desperate attempt to distract from ongoing investigations into a major corruption scandal involving flood control projects.
Corruption Probe Sparks Political Turmoil
The controversy comes amid multiple investigations into allegations that influential members of Congress and the Senate received substantial kickbacks from construction companies awarded lucrative contracts for flood-control projects. These projects were reportedly substandard, incomplete, or in some cases, entirely non-existent.
The scandal has generated significant public anger in the Philippines, a country frequently battered by deadly flooding and typhoons. An independent fact-finding commission established by President Marcos, along with a Senate committee and various government agencies, are currently examining the corruption allegations.
In a pointed response, Castro challenged Senator Marcos: "Senator Imee, I hope you'll be a patriot and help in the investigation that your own brother has been doing and condemn all the corrupt. Don't side with them, don't hide them. Let President Marcos work to stop all the corruption."
Deepening Political Divisions
The public family rift highlights the increasingly complex political landscape in the Philippines. Senator Imee Marcos is known as a prominent ally of President Marcos's predecessor and fierce critic, Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte himself was arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant in March and detained in the Netherlands over alleged crimes against humanity connected to his brutal anti-drug crackdown that resulted in thousands of deaths among mostly poor suspects. The former president has denied any wrongdoing.
Duterte's family and political allies have blamed the Marcos administration for what they describe as the ex-president's illegal arrest and detention. Vice-President Sara Duterte, the former leader's daughter, has emerged as one of the current president's most vocal critics.
The drug allegations against President Marcos aren't entirely new. Early last year, Rodrigo Duterte claimed in a speech that his successor was a drug addict who had previously appeared on law enforcement lists of suspected drug users. President Marcos laughed off those allegations at the time, refusing to dignify them with a response while noting Duterte's own past use of fentanyl.
In 2021, while still a presidential aspirant, Marcos's spokesperson presented two medical reports from a private hospital and the national police laboratory showing the politician had tested negative for both cocaine and methamphetamine.
The escalating conflict between the Marcos siblings, combined with the ongoing corruption investigations and political tensions with Duterte allies, creates a volatile situation that threatens to destabilise the current administration and its reform agenda.
