Former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez on Tuesday told his former boss, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to take a "credible hair follicle drug test" to put an end to the allegations that he is an illegal drug user.
In a television interview, Rodriguez said that Marcos should heed the call and the clamor of the Filipino people as government officials are being dragged into illegal drug use.
Rodriguez said his call for regular drug tests on government leaders was his answer to people who didn't believe the result he showed in 2021 that Marcos wasn't using illegal drugs.
He said he agreed with the outcome.
"I got dragged into this. Supposedly, I showed a fake result in 2021. I will tell everyone that I stand by the result I showed in 2021 that then-candidate BBM tested negative," Rodriguez said.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said that Marcos is always "bangag," a Filipino word for someone who is high on drugs, due to his successor's illegal drug use.
Duterte, citing information from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), said Marcos is on the list of illegal drug users in the country.
Duterte added that a document that allegedly came from PDEA also showed Marcos was among the targets of an anti-illegal drugs operation in 2012.
However, PDEA denied that operational papers that circulated on social media showed that Marcos was one of the targets of a 2012 anti-drug operation.
PDEA clarified that these kinds of files are not in its Plans and Operations Reports Management Information System (Pormis).
Marcos had already said before that he would not take seriously any reports that he is involved with drug use.
"You know, if you have nothing to hide, it's simple, just undergo a credible hair follicle drug test," Rodriguez said.
"That's not dignifying, it's heeding the call and the clamor of the Filipino people," Rodriguez added.
Rodriguez served as Marcos' spokesperson during the 2022 National Elections.
Marcos hired him as his executive secretary, but he resigned in September 2022, saying that he was "completely exiting" the government for personal reasons.
