MANILA — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday dismissed allegations by his estranged sister, Senator Imee Marcos, who publicly accused him of being a longtime drug user, claims his spokesperson described as baseless and long disproven.
In a statement, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the senator’s accusations may be an attempt to distract from ongoing investigations into a corruption scandal involving flood control projects, which could implicate her allies in the Senate.
“Sen. 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,” Castro said. “Don’t side with them, don’t hide them. Let President Marcos work to stop all the corruption.”
The government has been investigating allegations that influential members of Congress and the Senate received large kickbacks from construction companies awarded flood control contracts, many of which resulted in substandard, incomplete, or nonexistent projects. The scandal has drawn public outrage in a country prone to deadly floods and typhoons.
Senator Imee Marcos, speaking Monday night at a rally in Manila, claimed her brother’s alleged drug addiction began during their father’s presidency and continues to this day. She said it has affected his health and ability to govern.
She also alleged that the president’s wife and children were drug users and claimed that she and her brother have had little communication since he assumed the presidency in 2022. Liza Marcos and her children, including a key member of the House of Representatives, did not immediately comment.
“His addiction became the cause of the flood of corruption, the lack of direction and very wrong decisions, the absence of accountability and justice,” the senator said, without presenting evidence. She urged the military, police, and other officials to help “improve his condition,” adding that she is not her brother’s enemy, but that he is.
Castro criticized Senator Marcos for not addressing former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has admitted past fentanyl use and whose family, including Vice President Sara Duterte, has faced allegations of corruption, which they have denied.
In previous statements, Rodrigo Duterte claimed Marcos was a drug user when he was a presidential aspirant. Marcos dismissed the accusations at the time, providing reports from a private hospital and the national police laboratory showing he tested negative for cocaine and methamphetamine.
The Marcos siblings are the children of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in the 1986 “People Power” uprising. Their public dispute adds a new chapter to a family long in the national spotlight.
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