Hontiveros on Marcos-Duterte’s drug accusations: ‘Let them both take drug test’

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, to undergo drug tests to end their argument about who between them is telling the truth.

Hontiveros raised her suggestion when asked for a reaction to Duterte’s dare to Marcos Jr. to undergo a drug test in public to prove that he is not a drug user.

“Drug testing should always be suspicionless and voluntary. To conclude the two leader’s accusations against each other on drug use, I encourage them both to take the test,” she said.

Duterte, father of Vice President Sara Duterte, caught himself in a word war with Marcos Jr. after the latter hit back at his allegations that he is a drug user.

Before departing for his official visit to Vietnam on Monday, the president took a swipe against the 78-year-old former president.

“I think it’s the fentanyl,” he said when asked for a reaction to the former president’s accusation against him that he is a “drug addict.”

“Fentanyl is the strongest painkiller you can buy. It is highly addictive and it has very serious side effects and PRRD has been taking the drug for a very long time now,” he added.

Over the weekend, the former president accused his successor of being a drug addict during the prayer rally organized by his supporters in Davao City.

“When I was the mayor, the (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) presented evidence to me. Your name was on the (drug) list. I didn’t want to reveal it because we were friends, or if not friends, at least acquaintances,” Duterte said.

However, the PDEA refuted the claim the following day, stating that the president was never on their drug watch list.