Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — As the camp of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (BBM) brushed aside questions about the authenticity of his negative drug test, his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, also released the result of her drug test that found her negative for 11 illegal or controlled substances.
Duterte underwent testing on Wednesday at a Hi-Precision Diagnostics branch in Davao City for phencyclidine, amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, ecstasy, methadone, methamphetamine, opium, propoxyphene and tetrahydrocannabinol.
In the drug test report, Duterte placed “candidate for public office” as the purpose for testing with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as the “requesting party.”
Voluntary
In a statement released through her spokesperson, Liloan City Mayor Christina Frasco, Duterte said she took the test “voluntarily upon the request” of Marcos “to support the call for transparency as aspiring public officials seeking the trust of our fellow Filipinos.”
“Uniteam BBM-Sara’s stand against illegal drugs is united and unequivocal. This can be seen from both our negative tests as well as our common stance against the proliferation of illegal drugs and the need for effective measures of prevention, rehabilitation and enforcement,” she said.
Duterte stressed the need to “focus on the substantial qualifications of those that seek to lead our country,” especially the candidates for president and vice president, who should be examined “under the lens of competence and experience.”
She said aspirants should have “an infallible ability to manage crisis through policy and practice built up through years of executive, legislative and administrative exposure; a proven track record of delivering security and development; and a clear and tested platform for job security and sustainable livelihood.”
Meanwhile, Marcos’ chief of staff, Victor Rodriguez, told the Inquirer that the former senator’s negative drug test “will stand on its own” and questions “as to the authenticity, methodology or process done … should [be addressed] to the institution where the examination was conducted.”
“We will not pay attention to people or groups who naturally have a negative outlook on life. There is no sufficient explanation [for] those who do not want an explanation, and we cannot explain this to those who do not want to understand,” he said.
Different address
Rodriguez appealed to detractors to avoid involving in the issue institutions like the Comelec, the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory and St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
“They have nothing to do with politics, we should respect them and not destroy them,” he said.
Rodriguez was referring to Marcos’ drug test, which found him negative for cocaine. The test was done at SLMC on Monday.
The namesake of the late President Ferdinand Marcos said that while he did not feel alluded to by President Duterte, who earlier claimed a presidential aspirant was a cocaine user, he underwent testing to show he remains a “vigilant anti-illegal drugs campaigner.”
His camp submitted the SLMC drug test report as well another one conducted by the PNP Crime Laboratory to the PNP chief’s office, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Some netizens had pointed out an error in the hospital’s address in the drug report. It listed SLMC’s address in Taguig City as “32nd Street, Ususan, Taguig,” while on its official website, its address is “Rizal Drive cor. 32nd St. and 5th Ave., Taguig,” in Fort Bonifacio.