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MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday condemned the “fake video” showing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allegedly using illegal drugs, saying it would pursue necessary actions to identify and prosecute those behind the material.
“The timing of the release of this fake video, occurring just before the President’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), unmistakably indicates an intent to undermine the credibility of the President and the critical speech he is set to deliver,” it said in a statement.
At a hastily called press conference at Camp Crame ahead of the Sona, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. ordered the Philippine National Police to form a task force to investigate the matter.
Different features
“I’ve known him for a long time and definitely those features aren’t his,” Abalos told reporters, referring to the man in the video. “This is too malicious … It’s so unfair to the President because he will deliver his Sona today and this came out.”
The video, which was reportedly played during an anti-Marcos government rally in the United States has since gone viral on social media.
Abalos ordered the PNP to coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to investigate.
In an ambush interview at the Batasang Pambansa, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the footage was “clearly meant” to defame the President.
“[The guy in the video] looked like a Korean; that’s clearly not him,” Bersamin added.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday denied having a hand in the release of the video that his supporters claimed showed Marcos using drugs.
In a statement, Duterte doubled down on his allegation the President was a drug user, an allegation he made in January, adding that denial was the “weakest form of defense.”
“With due apologies to all the experts who vouched for the authenticity of the video, the refusal of President Marcos to undergo the hair follicle drug test is the best proof not only of the video’s authenticity but, worse, his drug addiction,” he said. —with reports from Dempsey Reyes and Melvin Gascon