Overview
- Senator Imee Marcos alleged at a massive Manila rally that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has long been dependent on cocaine and unfit to govern, offering no evidence.
- Presidential spokesperson Claire Castro dismissed the accusation as baseless and portrayed it as an effort to divert attention from investigations into flood‑control contracts.
- House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos called his aunt’s claims dangerously irresponsible, while noting the president previously presented 2021 hospital and police lab reports showing negative drug tests.
- Calls for additional transparency grew as lawmaker Paolo Duterte urged the president to take a hair follicle drug test.
- Probes into alleged kickbacks and ghost flood‑control projects continue, with the Finance Department estimating up to 118.5 billion pesos in losses as huge protests press for accountability and arrests remain scarce nearly 100 days into the inquiry.