Duterte: Why would PDEA release a derogatory report on Marcos?

Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night countered the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency's pronouncement that President Marcos was never on its drug watch list.

At a news conference in Davao City, Duterte said he would release it to the public when he gets his hands on the said document.

Duterte on Sunday at a rally against people's initiative and Charter change said that Marcos was on the PDEA's drug watch list.

On Monday, the PDEA said that the President was not.

"Sabi mo ngayon, 'yung PDEA wala raw record. Itong mga PDEA, mga ugok 'to. Sino ba namang PDEA magbigay... 'Sir, ito yung record mo d'un sa narco," Duterte said.

"But anyway, hanapin ko 'yun. As soon as it is in my hands, I will release it," he added.

(You're now saying that the PDEA has no record. These PDEA are fools. Who among the PDEA will give a report... 'Sir, this is your record in the narco. But anyway, I will look for that. As soon as it is in my hands, I will release it.)

GMA News Online is seeking comment from Malacañang and will publish it as soon as it is available.

"'Yung Presidente manghingi ng sarili niyang derogatory report, ibigay mo? Tingnan mo kung wala na si Marcos, maglabasan uli 'yan," Duterte said.

(Will you give it to him if the President asks for a derogatory report on himself? If Marcos is no longer there, these will again come out.)

Marcos on Monday laughed off the allegations that he was an addict.

“I think it’s the fentanyl," was Marcos' reply when asked about Duterte's speech in Davao City.

"It is highly addictive and it has very serious side effects. And PRRD [President Rodrigo D. Duterte] has been taking the drug for a very long time now. When was the last time he told us that he was taking fentanyl? (Around) five, six years ago? Something like that. After five, six years it has to affect him," Marcos told reporters.

Asked to categorically deny that he is involved in illegal drugs, Marcos laughed and said, "I won't even dignify the question."

Duterte during the nighttime news conference criticized the attempts to change the Constitution, which he attributed to Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

The PDEA on Monday said Marcos Jr. was never on its drug watch list.

"The [PDEA] categorically states that President Ferdinand R Marcos, Jr is not in its watch list, contrary to the statement of former President Rodrigo Duterte, claiming that 'when he was the Mayor of Davao, he was shown evidence by PDEA that in the list, the name of the president was there,'" the agency said in a statement.

"The NDIS [National Drug Information System] is the intelligence database of all drug personalities, gathering inputs from counterparts in both law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Pursuant to its mandate under Republic Act 9165, or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, PDEA regularly conducts intelligence workshops in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies to update the NDIS," it added.

"From its inception in 2002 and up to the present, President Ferdinand R Marcos, Jr was never in our NDIS," PDEA said. —NB, GMA Integrated News