Malacañang and Vice President Sara Duterte traded unusually sharp attacks over the weekend after Duterte appeared to validate Senator Imee Marcos’ explosive claim that members of the First Family, including President Bongbong Marcos, supposedly use illegal drugs.
The exchange deepened the widening political divide between the Marcos and Duterte blocs, prompting one of the Palace’s most aggressive responses to date.
In a chance interview, Duterte was asked if she believed the President used drugs. She first brushed it off with a laugh.
When pressed on whether she personally believed the First Family used illegal substances, she remarked: “Lahat ng mga nakasama nila sa mga parties nila nagsasabi na gumagamit sila ng droga.”
She added that public officials cannot decline drug testing: “Hindi ka pwedeng humindi kapag sinasabihan ka na magpa-drug test ka… so dapat kapag merong challenge na ganyan, i-submit mo kaagad yung sarili mo.”
The Palace swiftly hit back through Press Officer Claire Castro, redirecting the issue toward Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Inutusan ba niya ang kanyang ama na magpa-drug test? Nakalimutan ba niya ang sagot ng Spokesperson noon na hindi pwedeng utusan ang pangulo magpa drug test,” Castro said.
Castro then cited Duterte’s past public acknowledgments of marijuana use and fentanyl abuse: “Anyway, umamin na pala si dating Pangulong Duterte na nagma-marijuana at pag-aabuso sa fentanyl habang siya ay presidente dahil sa masarap ang ‘cloud 9 feeling’.”
Defending the President, she contrasted Marcos’ conduct with Duterte’s well-known tirades.
“Ang Pangulong Marcos Jr. ay patuloy na nagtatrabaho at tumutugis sa mga corrupt… at hindi tulad ng iba na nakitaan ng senyales ng pagwawala, pagmumura, pagbabanta sa buhay, at mga uncontrollable anger issues. Iyan ang nag-aasal lutang na parang nasa impluwensya ng pinagbabawal na gamot.”
The confrontation adds fuel to escalating tensions between the two camps as the administration faces mounting public anger over alleged corruption in flood control projects.