President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrives at the Bagong Pilipinas rally in Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Sunday, January 28, 2024. INQUIRER PHOTO/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was never listed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for illegal drugs, the agency said on Monday.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte, however, asserted last Sunday at a prayer rally in Davao that Marcos had been on the narcotics list, citing evidence shown to him by PDEA during his time as mayor.
READ: Marcos ‘resign’ – Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte
“The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency categorically states that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr is not in its watch list, contrary to the statement of former President Rodrigo Duterte, claiming that ‘when he was the Mayor of Davao, he was shown evidence by PDEA that in the list, the name of the president was there’,” said the PDEA in a statement.
The PDEA said that Duterte was Davao Mayor from 1988 to 1998, 2001 to 2010 and 2013 to 2016, however, the drug enforcement agency was only activated in 2002.
However, the PDEA pointed out that Duterte had his own narco-list when he became president in 2016. The agency said it merely revalidated Duterte’s list, which became the Inter-Agency Drug Information Database.
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“The name of President Marcos is also not in the said list. Based on all the foregoing facts, the PDEA asserts that President Marcos Jr. is not and was never in its watch list,” said the PDEA.
The Dutertes’ tirade against Marcos however, did not end in the illegal drugs claim.
Current Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte, the former president Duterte’s son, also told Marcos to resign if he “does not have love and aspirations for the nation.”
Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, the highest ranking official amongst the Davaoeño clan, Vice President Sara Duterte has yet to comment on her family’s claims and statements. The Duterte daughter was Marcos’ running mate in the 2022 elections.