President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not heed Sen. Imee Marcos’ dare to undergo a hair follicle test to dispel accusations of illegal drug use, as these allegations were already disproved long ago, Palace press officer Claire Castro said.
At a briefing, Castro was asked whether now is the right time for Marcos to take such a test, after the lady senator challenged him and the First Family to prove they are not users of illicit drugs.
‘Again and again, we will keep repeating it – we will not be swayed by what the loud voices are saying. This has long been resolved,’ Castro said.
‘I will repeat it, over and over-the president is clean, and the president will not give in to any kind of provocation,’ she continued.
Castro said such suggestions come from destabilizers and obstructionists who have nothing better to do than give orders to the president, even though these are no longer aligned with his work.
The issue arose after Sen. Marcos, during her appearance at the second night of the Iglesia ni Cristo rally on Monday evening, accused the president of using illegal drugs.
She also implicated the presidential son, House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, in the issue, saying he allegedly offered drugs to her children and their other relatives.
The presidential son, however, was quick to dismiss his aunt’s allegations.
‘It pains me to see how low she has gone, to the point that she resorts to a web of lies aimed at destabilizing this government to advance her own political ambitions,’ Rep. Marcos said in a statement Tuesday morning.
‘To further repeat an accusation against President Bongbong Marcos and the First Lady and, for the first time ever, myself, that is not only false but dangerously irresponsible. All that the senator mentioned has no basis, no truth, and no good intentions for the country,’ he added.
‘This is not the behavior of a true sibling,’ Rep. Marcos further said.
Sen. Marcos did not let this slide and once again dared the First Family to take the test.
‘Sandro wants to stir up rumors that I am not a real sibling. There is only one solution: I will take a DNA test, and they will take a hair follicle test,’ the senator said in a Facebook post.
Negative on cocaine test
In 2021, then-presidential aspirant Marcos underwent a drug test to put to rest speculations after former President Rodrigo Duterte claimed there was a cocaine-using presidential aspirant.
The test, conducted at St. Luke’s Medical Center, showed that Marcos tested negative for cocaine.
However, speculations about Marcos’ alleged drug use resurfaced after a video circulated online showing a man ‘sniffing’ illegal drugs. Experts in digital media and artificial intelligence have already debunked the authenticity of the video.