PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday dismissed and laughed off claims of a dismissed narcotics agent of a supposed report indicating that he and an actress were the subject of an anti-illegal drugs operation in 2012.
“Kami ni?” Marcos said when asked by reporters to comment on supposed leaked documents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) showing his and actress Maricel Soriano’s alleged drug use 12 years ago.
The President then laughed and left.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who was with the President, said the report was “contrived.” He did not elaborate.
In a Senate hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs last week, former PDEA agent Jonathan Morales said he prepared and signed the “pre-operations report and authority to operate” to verify the alleged drug use of Marcos and Soriano.
Morales said a “confidential” agent, whom he did not identify, approached him sometime in March 2012 and showed him five photographs taken on different occasions which supposedly showed Marcos and Soriano engaged in illegal drug activities.
He said he got the sworn statement of the informer, which he later used to prepare the pre-operations report and authority to operate, to verify the information.
The operation, however, was supposedly stopped by then PDEA deputy director general for operations Carlos Gadapan purportedly on orders of then Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.
Gadapan can no longer confirm or deny Morales’ claim as he has already passed away.
PDEA chief Moro Virgilio Lazo told senators that the 2012 documents “never existed.” But Morales said the documents are supposed to be securely kept at the agency’s Intelligence and Investigation Service (IIS).
This is not the first time that the President has been accused of using illegal drugs.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte had previously alleged that Marcos is using illegal drugs and even challenged him to a drug test.
The former president later withdrew his statement and said that he may have meant that Marcs uses drugs such as antibiotics and analgesics.
