Palace fires back; calls Imee fake news ‘plague’

Malacañang Palace on Monday dismissed allegations from Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is “self-destructing,” while simultaneously launching a blistering verbal attack against the president’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro questioned the Davao mayor’s logic after he claimed during a Reform Alliance for Good Governance and Accountability (RAGE) event that investigating “ghost” flood control projects was a sign of the administration’s collapse.

“Is investigating anomalous flood control projects self-destruction for the president?” Castro asked. “His perspective seems strange. Is that why the previous administration did not investigate in depth — because it would be self-destruction for former President Duterte?”

Castro stressed that the president would continue to investigate public fund expenditures regardless of who is affected. “If someone should be held accountable, that is what the president wants. There is no need for a cover-up,” she added.

The briefing turned sharply personal when reporters asked about a video released Monday by Senator Imee Marcos. In the video, the senator claimed the president has been ill since November 2025 and has undergone several medical treatments.

Castro labeled the senator a “fake news peddler” and a “salot.”

“What did she say? She said they don’t see each other, right? So, what does she know? She is fake news,” Castro said. “We don’t need fake news peddlers in our society. They are a plague.”

In her one-minute video, the lady senator admitted she could not provide a formal medical assessment but insisted her brother was unwell. She claimed their mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, was also kept in the dark because they were both “outside the kulambo.”

“I only know that Bongbong is sick. Since November, I told the Iglesia ni Cristo brethren that there was a problem. Two months ago, he was rushed to the hospital. He has lost weight,” the senator said. “I’m not making things up. I just want the truth about his health to come out.”

The exchange follows a statement from the President last week in which he personally confirmed he is in good health and has no medical conditions. Castro urged the public to rely on mainstream media reports and the president’s physical appearances at public events rather than social media videos.