Palace on Duterte’s tirades vs Marcos: ‘No comment’
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and former President Rodrigo Duterte —MALACAÑANG PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Palace has “no comment” on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s tirades against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the proclamation rally of Partido ng Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) senatorial bets.
Reporters sought a reaction to Duterte’s remarks during Thursday evening’s rally. Presidential Communications Office Acting Secretary Cesar Chavez only said, “No comment here.”
READ: Ex-President Duterte claims Marcos uses heroin
In his speech, Duterte once again accused Marcos of being addicted to illegal drugs, saying that by the age of 80, Marcos is probably “no longer moving.”
“Merong isang presidente na talagang bangag. [Hindi naman] buang, pero ‘yung bisyo ng droga long term ‘yan. Maging ulol si Marcos. Maybe constant use of heroin — aabot pa siguro siya ng 80, pero sa panahon na ‘yan, hindi na siya gumagalaw,” Duterte said.
Article continues after this advertisement(There is one president who is really on drugs. Not crazy, but drug addiction is long-term. Marcos will be crazy. Maybe constant use of heroin. Maybe he could reach the age of 80, but by that time, he is no longer moving.)
“Either nakatindig lang ‘yan sa kuwarto niya or natutulog,” he added.
(Either he is standing in his room or sleeping.)
Duterte also made a remark suggesting that current senators should just be killed to make room for the PDP slate.
“Ngayon, marami kasi sila. Ano dapat ang gawin natin? Eh ‘di patayin natin ‘yong mga senador ngayon para mabakante. Eh kung makapatay tayo tanang mga kinse na senador, eh pasok na tayo lahat.”
(Right now, there are many of them. What should we do? Well, let’s just kill the current senators so there will be vacancies. If we manage to kill all 15 senators, then we can all get in.)
It was not the first time that Duterte accused Marcos of using illegal drugs.
In January 2024, Duterte claimed that Marcos was a “drug addict then and a drug addict now as president.”
He added that Marcos was allegedly once on the watchlist of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
After Duterte accused him of being a drug addict, Marcos released a medical certification proving there was no trace of drug abuse in his body.
He also attributed the allegation to Duterte’s alleged fentanyl use.
“I think it’s the fentanyl. Fentanyl is the strongest painkiller you can buy. It is highly addictive and it has very serious side effects and PRRD (Duterte) has been taking the drug for a very long time now,” said Marcos in an ambush interview then.
The PDEA denied Duterte’s claim that Marcos was on a drug watch list.
