President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has rejected calls to take a hair follicle drug test, asserting that it has nothing to do with the constitutional principle that public office is a public trust.
The challenge came from Marcos’ former executive secretary, Vic Rodriguez, during GMA Network’s upcoming Tanong ng Bayan: The GMA Senatorial Face-Off 2025, set to air on February 1. Rodriguez has been pushing for the test to end speculation about the president’s alleged drug use.
In an ambush interview in Pasay City on Friday, Marcos dismissed the demand. “No, no. Why should I do that?… ‘Public office is a public trust’ has nothing to do with the follicle test. Wala namang koneksyon ang sinasabi niya,” he said in a GMA News report.
Marcos also questioned Rodriguez’s credibility, pointing out that he worked for him in the past. “He’s always had that weakness every time he — when he was still working for me. If you believe in what he was saying, why did he work for me?”
Rodriguez first raised the issue in April 2024, following former President Rodrigo Duterte’s accusations about Marcos’ alleged drug use. However, Duterte later retracted his statement, clarifying that he never directly accused Marcos of using illegal drugs.
Ironically, it was Rodriguez himself who vouched for Marcos’ negative drug test results in 2021 when he was the then-presidential candidate’s spokesperson. At the time, he dismissed critics, saying, “Walang sasapat na paliwanag sa mga ayaw mapaliwanagan at hindi namin kayang ipaunawa sa mga sadyang ayaw umunawa.”
Now aligned with the Duterte camp, Rodriguez has been at odds with Marcos, reflecting the ongoing rift between the two political factions.
