Philippines orders probe over video allegedly showing president snorting drugs

The Philippines has created a task force to investigate an alleged deepfake video released by supporters of ex-leader Rodrigo Duterte in the United States apparently showing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. snorting illegal drugs, officials said Tuesday.

Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said they were tracking the source of the video, which leaked online on the same day that Marcos delivered his annual State of the Nation Address on Monday.

The video played during an anti-Marcos administration rally in Los Angeles allegedly by the Hakbang ng Maisug (Brave Step), a loose coalition of volunteers identified with the Duterte camp.

On Tuesday, Abalos “instructed the Philippine National Police to create a task force to identify the person responsible for uploading and spreading a fake video of a man taking drugs implied to be President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,” according to a statement from his office.

“The public should exercise critical thinking to avoid falling prey to fake news,” he told reporters. “I’ve known him (Marcos) for a long time and definitely those features aren’t his.”

It was the latest development in a political feud between the Marcos and Duterte families that had seen the alliance crumble. Political analysts view next year’s midterm elections as a looming showdown between the two families and their allies.

It was the second time Marcos was victimized by a deepfake. In April, an “audio deepfake” clip had Marcos allegedly directing his military to act against China, causing concern among government security officials. The manipulated voice can be heard saying Marcos allegedly signaled to his military to “take action” if China attacked the Philippines amid the South China Sea territorial row.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the release of the video appeared to be part of “an intense plan to destabilize” the Marcos government. He noted that this came after reports last month of a walk-out by generals during a conference with Marcos that forced the military to deny the report and conduct a loyalty check.

Defense department spokesman Arsenio Andolong called on the U.S. government to help expose those behind the video because it was released during a political rally in Los Angeles. 

He said the “contrived video” was a “maliciously crude attempt” to weaken the government.

“We urge the proper U.S. authorities to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this disgusting act,” Andolong said.

On Tuesday, Duterte said the Hakbang ng Maisug national leadership had nothing to do with the release of the video.

“The members of the Maisug leadership were just as surprised as the rest of the country when they saw the video for the first time,” Duterte said in a statement.

“[The] Marcos administration’s feeble attempt to dismiss the video by simple denial actually reinforces the simmering suspicion of President Marcos’ drug addiction. As any lawyer knows, denial is the weakest form of defense. It has to do better than that,” the former president said.

“Even the ordinary man on the street knows that the best way to put the issue to rest is for President Marcos to undergo a hair follicle drug test. When undertaken by a credible drug testing center, a negative result would erase all doubts once and for all,” he added.

Claims, counter claims

Marcos and Duterte have logged drug-use claims against each other.

The former leader in January accused Marcos of being a drug addict – a claim the president has flatly denied. For his part, Marcos has claimed that Duterte was a long-time fentanyl user.

The hostilities appeared to be connected to the Marcos administration’s softening on suggestions to hand Duterte over to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating the former leader for thousands of deaths related to his drug war. 

Marcos repeatedly has said that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines. But in May, the justice department said it was preparing a briefer for Marcos in case the international court did issue an arrest warrant against Duterte.

In his annual address on Monday, Marcos took a swipe at Duterte’s hardline anti-drugs approach that went after addicts.

The Philippine government said that about 8,000 suspected dealers and addicts had been killed during Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, but rights activists say the number could be much higher.

By comparison, Marcos said his administration has taken down 97,000 “drug personalities” in the past two years including 42 uniformed personnel and 77 elected officials. 

The former president is not the only member of the Duterte family taking steps to split from Marcos.

Last month, Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, quit Marcos’ cabinet as education secretary in what has been seen as a collapse of their political alliance formed leading up to the 2022 national election.

Marcos and Sara ran together as a ticket that year, uniting powerful political families from the northern and southern Philippines. The alliance initially was described as a “marriage made in heaven” by Marcos’ sister, Sen. Imee Marcos.

Gerard Carreon in Manila and Jeoffrey Maitem in Davao City, Philippines, contributed to this report.