PCO Usec Claire Castro defends PBBM from his own sister

Presidential Communications Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro served as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first line of defense after responding to Senator Imee Marcos, who claimed that the president uses drugs.

Castro uploaded an eight-minute video on her YouTube account, showing screenshots of news articles and medical certificates as evidence that the younger Marcos is clinically free from the drugs mentioned.

“This issue has been going on for a long time and it has been proven that the accusation is not true. You did that just to destroy President Marcos Jr., you even made an AI-generated video,” Castro said.

“What kind of sister is Senator Imee? What kind of Filipino is Senator Imee?” she added in the video.

The undersecretary, calling the senator desperate, also urged her to stop harming her brother and to focus on the real issue, which is corruption.

This followed Senator Imee’s claim before a crowd of Iglesia ni Cristo members that her brother uses both cocaine and marijuana.

The senator was among politicians who spoke out during the "Rally for Transparency for a Better Democracy" at Quirino Grandstand Monday evening.

"I wasn't responsible for him before, but as he got older, it became more worrying. I knew he was doing drugs. This is serious," Imee said in Filipino during the rally.

She also alleged that the president would drink and use cocaine all afternoon with his wife and friends.

“I even convinced Bongbong to marry Liza... my big mistake, his drug addiction got worse,” the senator added.

Imee claimed that she was told the president uses marijuana immediately after waking up, alongside his breakfast.

Family ties (Marcos version)

Tracing back to March this year, Imee said she has no communication with her brother, although the President’s camp denied any rift between them.

Since the 2025 Midterm elections, Imee is often seen mingling with the Duterte camp or those close to Vice President Sara Duterte, who is also known to be critical of the administration.