DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 January)—Former President Rodrigo Duterte dared President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to take a drug test at the Luneta Park in Manila to prove to the public that he does not use illegal drugs.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a press conference at the Grand Men Seng Hotel in Davao City on Tuesday evening (30 January 2024). MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
He said he is willing to take the drug test, too.
“It is not me who will prove, hindi ako ang tumakbo ng public office (I did not run for public office), it is an accusation against him from the public, bakit ko i-prove (Why should I prove it)? It is for him to sit in Luneta Park, magpakuha siya ng dugo doon (let him get a blood test there) [from] an independent entity or doctor,” Duterte told a press conference at the Grand Men Seng Hotel on Tuesday evening.
Speaker Martin Romualdez on Monday challenged the Dutertes to provide evidence to back their accusations, including President Marcos’ alleged drug use. The former President in a rally here on Sunday night described Marcos as “bangag” (high on drugs). He said the moves to collect signatures for an alleged People’s Initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution is intended to perpetuate the Marcoses in power and was planned by the incumbent President’s “hungry for power” wife, Liza, and first cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Romualdez denied the allegation.
Duterte’s challenge for a drug test was in reaction to Marcos’ comment that what Duterte was saying in the rally here on Sunday must have been the effect of Fentanyl, a highly-addictive pain reliever. “It’s the Fentanyl,” he told reporters in Manila.
Duterte opened his press conference by saying Fentanyl was prescribed to him to ease the pain from a spinal injury during a motorcycle accident while he was still mayor here. On his first year as President in 2016, he admitted taking Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid estimated to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine.
He recounted during the press conference that he got his Fentanyl prescription from the Pain Center of St. Luke’s Hospital in Metro Manila. He named the doctors who prescribed the pain killer. He said he has stopped taking this since seven to eight years ago.
According to the Philippine Star on December 19, 2016, Duterte said the doctor made him stop using Fentanyl on learning he was “abusing the drug” by using more than the prescribed patches.
He said he was given a “prescribed drug” while cocaine, which he alleges is Marcos’ preference, is not.
“Pagkatapos noon, gumaling na ako, Mr. President. Hindi na ako nag Fentanyl hindi ko na kailangan eh. Ngayon, bumuwelta ka sa akin ng ganon? Yang cocaine may prescription ba yan? Saan mo kinukuha ang supply mo?” (After the treatment, I was healed, Mr. President. I no longer used Fentanyl. I don’t need it anymore. Now you are hitting back at me? Is cocaine a prescribed drug? Where do you get your supply?)
Duterte said he knows two buddies of Marcos who are also addicts, including one who is also working in Malacañang.
Prove it
He said Marcos is in public office so “you have to disprove it, it is not for me to prove it,” referring to the use of illegal drugs. He added that it is “stupid” for people to ask him to prove his allegation.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in a statement on Monday said Marcos had never been in the narco list.
“Wag kayong magtaka na ang PDEA walang ibigay sa kanya. Kung Presidente maghingi sa sarili niyang derogatory report niya, ibigay mo? (Do not wonder if PDEA will have nothing on him. Would the PDEA give the President a derogatory report about him?) Duterte asked.
He stressed that PDEA officials went to him because “they are worried that a Marcos” was included in the narco list. Despite PDEA saying they do not have a record for President Marcos, Duterte said “the military would have secured a copy for their protection.”
He also said that he had declined the request of Liza Araneta Marcos while he was President, to have her husband appointed as agriculture secretary because he is a “drug addict.”
The former president also questioned Marcos’ trip to Germany days before the 2022 presidential campaign period, which was allegedly for “rehabilitation.”
In Vietnam, when reporters asked Marcos to comment on Duterte’s claims that he is a drug addict, he laughed and said, “I will not even dignify that question.” (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
