President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not been in contact with his sister, Senator Imee Marcos, for nearly three years, with Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro confirming that the senator has also been absent from family gatherings and events.
Castro said she raised the matter with the President shortly after the UPLIFT Committee meeting on Tuesday morning, following Imee’s public remark that her relationship with her brother was “non-existent.”
“Yes, immediately after the UPLIFT Committee meeting, I approached the President and asked about this comment or statement of his sister Senator Imee Marcos and he said ‘yes, they haven’t spoken for almost a years, she has not been attending family gatherings, family event,’ so iyon po ang sagot ng Pangulo,” Castro said.
The press officer added that the President’s demeanor during the exchange suggested he was unsettled by his sister’s words. “Bago siya kasi sumagot ay pinag-isipan niya talaga, sa aking paningin sa kanyang body language ay disappointed siya sa kanyang nadidinig na mga salita mula sa kanyang kapatid,” she said.
The estrangement traces back to a series of public accusations Imee leveled against the President last November, when she alleged that Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and some of the President’s associates were using illegal drugs. The senator further claimed that the President’s children — including Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos — had not only used illegal substances but had also encouraged other family members to do the same.
Sandro denied the allegations outright, saying they had no basis and no truth to them. Malacañang, for its part, dismissed the drug accusations against the President as “desperate.”
Marcos himself responded to his sister’s remarks at the time with a pointed disavowal: “That lady that you see talking on TV is not my sister.”
