Manila, Philippines — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. refused to reply on Monday to an allegation by his estranged sister, a senator, that he has been a longtime drug addict whose cocaine dependence has undermined his governance, saying with a somber tone that he didn’t need to focus on a household rift in public.
That break up has been rising since Imee Marcos publicly aligned together with his political arch rival, Vice President Sara Duterte, forward of midterm elections in Might. Sara Duterte is the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, Ferdinand Maros Jr.’s harsh critic and predecessor.
Imee Marcos poses for a photograph through the proclamation of elected senators in Manila on Might 17, 2025.
JAM STA ROSA / AFP through Getty Photos
Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro has mentioned that Sen. Imee Marcos’ accusations in opposition to her personal brother earlier than an enormous spiritual rally in Manila final week have been “a web of lies” and should have been a determined try to distract from ongoing investigations right into a corruption scandal that will implicate her opposition allies within the Senate.
The president recommended that one thing was troubling her sister. “The lady that you see talking on TV is not my sister and that view is shared by our cousins, friends, that it’s not her,” he mentioned with out elaborating.
On this photograph offered by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Workplace, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks on Nov. 21, 2025.
Malacanang Presidential Communications Workplace through AP
“That’s why we are worried, we are very worried about her. I hope she feels better soon,” the president mentioned. When requested if he plans to speak to her, Marcos mentioned that he and his sister “no longer travel in the same circles, political or otherwise.”
Marcos, 68, and his sister are kids of then dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who was overthrown in an army-backed however largely peaceable “people power” rebellion in 1986 after an authoritarian period that was infamous for human rights and political repression and plunder. The dictator died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. His household returned to the Philippines in 1991 and slowly regained a political foothold.
Marcos Jr. gained the presidency in 2022 with a landslide margin in one of many best political comebacks in Philippines historical past.
In a speech Monday evening earlier than an enormous rally by a non secular group in a Manila park, Imee Marcos mentioned her brother’s drug dependancy allegedly began when their father was nonetheless president and has continued to today. She claimed it has affected his well being and skill to control.
Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on an Worldwide Prison Courtroom warrant in March and flown to and detained within the Netherlands for alleged crimes in opposition to humanity over his brutal anti-drug crackdowns that left hundreds of largely poor suspects lifeless. Duterte has denied any wrongdoing.
Duterte’s household and allies, together with Imee Marcos, have blamed Marcos Jr. for what they declare was the ex-president’s unlawful arrest and detention by the worldwide court docket.
Extra from CBS Information
