Rivals for Davao House seat take drug tests

Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte (left) and PBA party-list Rep. Margarita “Migs” Nograles —Photos: Official Facebook pages of Paolo Duterte and Migs Nograles

MANILA, Philippines – The battle for the first congressional district seat of Davao City has officially begun—not in campaign sorties or house-to-house visits, but in medical laboratories.

On Wednesday, reelectionist Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and his challenger, PBA party list Rep. Margarita Nograles, both took hair follicle drug tests in Mandaluyong and Davao, respectively, after challenging each other to prove that they “had nothing to hide.”

READ: Sara Duterte OK with psych exam if poll bets will take drug test

Considered to be the most accurate confirmatory test for drug use, a hair follicle test involves removing a small sample of hair for laboratory testing, and results can show if a person has been using drugs or prescription medications in the previous three months. It can detect cannabis and amphetamines.

The results are expected within two weeks.

The idea first came from Vice President Sara Duterte, who said she would only undergo a psychiatric test if the 2025 election candidates—especially those who called her “mentally unstable”—will subject themselves to a drug test. Hours later, Duterte’s brother Paolo sent reporters a video of him undergoing a follicle test in August in a Quezon City lab.

But Nograles asked Duterte to take another test and join her to undergo the procedure at a laboratory in Bajada, Davao City, where she had her hair sample taken on Wednesday.

“At the end of the day, I don’t take it as a challenge. This is for accountability, transparency,” Nograles told reporters.

Proving innocence

Duterte, for his part, did retake the test in a diagnostic lab in Mandaluyong City as “he couldn’t go home to Davao immediately just to accept the challenge.”

He added that he decided to take a drug test to prove his innocence especially amid persistent allegations that he was involved in the drug trade.

But “this is just normal since we’re the enemy of administration,” he said. “This is just normal in politics. They’ve called me a drug addict, drug lord, drug pusher, even though I have kids and grandchildren.”

In a House quad committee hearing earlier, Paolo was accused by former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban of coowning a massive “shabu” (crystal meth) shipment that slipped through the bureau in 2018.

Nograles, a lawyer, is the daughter of late Speaker Prospero Nograles and sister of Karlo Nograles, the former Cabinet secretary during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, father of Sara and Paolo.

Karlo, also a lawyer, is facing former president Duterte in the mayoral race in Davao City. —with a report from Ryan D. Rosauro