FORMER senator Ferdinand “Bongbong”Marcos Jr. said Tuesday he took a “cocaine test” the day before, and had submitted the results to three government law enforcement agencies.
In a statement sent to media offices, the presidential aspirant of Partido Federal said, “I really don’t feel that I am the one being alluded to,” apparently referring to President Duterte’s revelation that a presidential aspirant, whom he did not name, was a cocaine addict.
“In spite of that, I believe it is my inherent duty as an aspiring public official to assure my fellow Filipinos that I am against illegal drugs,” Marcos said.
Though Marcos Jr was not named by the President, some social media memes made thinly veiled references to him.
On Tuesday, Marcos said his strong stance against illegal drugs prompted him to take the “cocaine test yesterday and the result was submitted this morning to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the office of the Chief of the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation.”
He assured Filipinos, especially supporters of the BBM-Sara Uniteam, “that I am, and will remain, a vigilant anti-illegal drugs campaigner!”
He repeated a call that he said he had sounded during the 2016 election campaign, for “all elective aspirants to take the drug test to ensure our people, particularly the young generation, that no elected leader is into illegal substances.”
Marcos Jr’s revelation about taking a drug test followed Monday’s move by the Partido Reporma tandem, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson and his running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III, to take a multi-drug test conducted by PDEA, where they tested negative for shabu, marijuana and cocaine use.
Lacson also called out President Duterte for dishing out blind items against presidential aspirants without doing anything to stop them, when he had projected himself as a tough leader willing to take flak for a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs.