CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Former president Rodrigo Duterte cussed at President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and repeatedly called him a “drug addict” at a protest rally organized by Duterte supporters in Davao City on Sunday night, January 28.

In a show of force dubbed as Davao’s “opposition” to the Marcos administration’s push for charter change via people’s initiative, the foul-mouthed ex-leader said Marcos was constantly high, “bangag.”

Duterte said, “Bongbong, bangag ‘yan. That’s why sinasabi ko sa inyo. Si Bongbong Marcos bangag noon. Ngayong presidente na, bangag ang ating presidente. Kayong mga military alam ninyo ‘yan, lalo na ‘yong mga nasa Malacañang, alam ninyo. The Armed Forces of the Philippines, alam ninyo. May drug addict tayo na presidente! Putang inang ‘yan!”

(Bongbong, he’s high. That’s why I’m telling you. Bongbong Marcos was high back then. Now that he’s the president, he’s still high. You in the military, especially those in Malacañang, you know it. The Armed Forces of the Philippines, you know it. We have a drug addict for a president! That son of a whore!)

Duterte alleged that he even saw Marcos’ name in the list of drug personalities of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) when he was mayor.

PDEA: So why did you not name him?

PDEA, in a statement carried by the Philippine Information Agency, “categorically” stated that the President “is not and was never” on its watch list.

Being a relatively new agency, PDEA said it was established in 2002 and shortly after came up with its database of drug personalities called the “National Drug Information System.”

Marcos “was never in our NIDS,” PDEA said.

Duterte had served as mayor from 1988 to 1998; then from 2001-2010, and then from 2013 to 2016, PDEA noted. When he became president, Duterte released his own narco-lists which, PDEA noted, never mentioned Marcos.

As president from 2016-2022, Duterte regularly released to the public his so-called narco lists of top drug users, protectors and smugglers. By December 2017, PDEA said Duterte’s narco list already contained at least 6,000 names.

However, Duterte’s own son, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte, was also linked to illegal drugs and was probed by the Senate for his alleged role in facilitating drug shipments in Mindanao. He was eventually exonerated.

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Duterte’s beef

After cursing Marcos at the Sunday rally, the Davao strongman talked about his real beef with the President: the current administration’s decision to not get in the way of the International Criminal Court’s probe into Duterte’s alleged crimes during his brutal anti-drug campaign as mayor and president.

Informed sources have said that ICC probers came to the Philippines in December. Asked about the possibility of a visit then, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said he saw “no reason” to prevent them from entering the country.

“Bakit ako nagkaroon ng kaso ng ICC? Sabi nila pinapatay ko daw ang mga drug pusher at drug addict. Mabuti na lang wala na ako sa puwesto baka kasali ka pa,” a fuming Duterte said.

(Why am I facing charges in the ICC [International Criminal Court]? They say I had drug pushers and addicts killed. Good thing I’m no longer in office, or you might be among them.)

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His youngest son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, also hit Marcos over the ICC probe of his father in a speech at a program prior to the rally. How could Marcos do it when Duterte allowed a hero’s burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the President’s father and namesake, the younger Duterte said. It was also in that speech where he asked the President to resign.

Not the first time

Duterte has been dropping hints about Marcos and drug use. That he would eventually “expose” him has been in the political grapevine for months now.

In November 2021, he took jabs at an unnamed 2022 presidential candidate, whose traits matched Marcos, calling him a cocaine user. Duterte made the remarks after his daughter Sara became Marcos Jr.’s running mate, a decision that upset the then-president, who wanted her to run for president and succeed him. 

On November 18, 2021, Duterte claimed that the leading presidential candidate at that time used cocaine and was a “weak leader” who heavily relied on his father’s political name. He did not identify the candidate at that time.

Responding to Duterte’s 2021 allegation, Marcos had himself tested at the Saint Luke’s Medical Center on November 22, 2021, and the result showed him negative for cocaine.

Marcos said the results were submitted to the police, PDEA, and National Bureau of Investigation.

Days before Duterte’s blind item, Marcos Jr. also tested negative for shabu (meth). The November 10, 2021 test was made because it was a requirement for a gun permit.

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Duterte warns Marcos of ouster like his father’s if charter change pushes through

In the same Sunday rally, Duterte said that First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez were behind the move to change the charter (Cha-Cha). He warned the President that he might face the fate of his ousted father should he push through with the Cha-Cha.

Duterte himself had pushed for Cha-Cha as president, but COVID-19 prevented him from seeing it through. – Rappler.com