MANILA (Agencies): At a rally in Davao against constitutional charter change, January 28, the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, accused incumbent president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr of illegal drug activity, saying he had been on the government’s drug watch list.
“Bongbong, he’s high. That’s why I’m telling you. Bongbong Marcos was high back then. Now that he’s the president, he’s still high. You, in the military, especially those in Malacañang, you know it. The Armed Forces of the Philippines, you know it. We have a drug addict for a president! That son of a whore!” Rappler reported Duterte as saying.
Duterte’s daughter, Sara, is vice-president and minister of education.
The Marcos and Duterte families have exchanged criticisms and jokes concerning the elder Duterte’s war on drugs, which resulted in thousands of deaths. Since he became president in 2022, Marcos has revised the policy AsiaNews reported.
Following Duterte’s tirade, media reported that Marcos responded on January 29, noting the former president’s use of the drug, fentanyl, implying that it may be causing his erratic behaviour.
“[Duterte] has been taking the drug for a very long time now. When was the last time he told us he was taking fentanyl? Five or six years ago? After five or six years, it has to affect him. Maybe that’s why he is behaving that way. I hope his doctors take better care of him than this –and not allow these problems to go unattended,” Marcos told journalists.
Instead of taking concrete steps to address the worsening crisis experienced by the people, the camps of Marcos Jr. and the Dutertes choose to engage in a brawl for their interests
Anakbayan
“It is highly addictive and has very serious side effects,” he added, explaining that the former president “has been taking the drug for a long time now. I hope his doctors take better care of him.”
In 2016, at the beginning of his presidency, Duterte admitted fentanyl patches for back pain issues, but denied being addicted to it.
Many groups have called on Filipinos to remain impartial in the midst of the spat, the Inquirer reported. Renato Reyes Jr., the president of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan [Bayan] said in a statement on January 30 that the Marcos and Duterte factions are merely fighting over who controls the country’s “spoils” as neither represents genuine change.
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“At the end of the day, we cannot place our hopes in any of these factions given the interests they represent,” Reyes stressed.
Fisherfolk group, Pamalakaya, likewise condemned Duterte’s “hi-jacking” of the fight against charter change, noting that the former president himself did not honour the Constitution during his tenure.
“Instead of taking concrete steps to address the worsening crisis experienced by the people, the camps of Marcos Jr. and the Dutertes choose to engage in a brawl for their interests,” the group, Anakbayan, said, condemning the finger pointing between the two camps.
