MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. dismissed the alleged leaked Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) documents linking him to illegal drugs.
The Chief Executive just laughed and walked away when asked by the media about the matter during an ambush interview on Monday afternoon.
Executive Secretary Lucan Bersamin, who was with President Marcos in the event, described the allegations as “contrived.”
Former PDEA intelligence officer Jonathan Morales claimed in a Senate hearing last week that leaked 2012 documents allegedly implicating then senator Marcos and actress Maricel Soriano to illegal drug use were authentic.
Morales added that the supposed operation against Marcos and Soriano in 2012 did not push through as it was stopped by former PDEA deputy director general Carlos Gadapan, as allegedly ordered by then Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.
PDEA director general Moro Virgilio Lazo, for his part, stated in the same hearing that the supposed leaked report does not exist as he also questioned the credibility of Morales.
But Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police chief and the one who conducted the Senate hearing, believes that the documents are not fabricated.
“Based on my impression, that paper is existing. Because the nature of the paper, when I looked at it, was clear. It was not AI-generated (artificial intelligence). It’s not fabricated because the photocopy was clear, and you can see the punch holes where the paper fastener went through,” said Dela Rosa.
Earlier this year, former President Rodrigo Duterte accused Marcos of being a drug addict, claiming that he saw a PDEA document linking the Chief Executive and Soriano to illegal drugs./PN
