As if we didn’t need more proof that political dynasties are bad, Senator Imee Marcos has escalated her rivalry with her own brother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., by accusing him of using illegal drugs.
“Batid ko na na nagda-drugs siya,” said the legislator in her speech at the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) rally in Manila on Monday, November 17. “Nalaman ko at ng pamilya. Seryoso ito.”
Imee went on to claim that the president’s name had appeared in a “list of celebrities” under the anti-drugs campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte. “Masinsinsinang kong kinausap si Pangulong Rody, halos manikluhod ako. Sinabi kong ayon sa kapulisan dapat unahin usigin ang mga pusher at saka na lamang sagipin ang mga user. Naligtas si Bongbong.”
She also accused the first family, including First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and Ilocos Norte First District Representative Sandro Marcos, of using illegal drugs.
While the Palace has not put out an official response, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro called Imee’s accusations a “desperate move” during a livestream on her personal YouTube channel on Monday evening.
“This is definitely a desperate move,” she said. “Ang pinag-uusapan sa peaceful rally [ng INC] ay diumanong korapsyon. Ano ang dahilan ni Senator Imee para ang sarili niyang kapatid ay siraan niya?”
On Tuesday, November 18, Sandro denied the accusations touted by his aunt, calling them “dangerously irresponsible.”
“It pains me to see how low she has gone to the point that she resorts to a web of lies aimed at destabilizing this government to advance her own political ambitions,” he said in a statement. “Sa lahat po ng binanggit ni senadora, walang basehan, walang katotohanan, at walang magandang idudulot sa bayan.”
“Hindi ito asal ng tunay na kapatid,” Sandro added.
Long Time Coming
Tensions between Imee and Bongbong have been bubbling for a few years, but after the rivalry between the president and Vice President Sara Duterte broke out in 2024, Imee made it clear just how much she disliked her brother by taking Duterte’s side.
Imee previously disapproved of the vice president’s impeachment in February 2025, saying she did not want the conflict that the impeachment might cause. In her bid for a senatorial re-election, she also departed from the presidential slate to campaign independently after Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and turned over to the International Criminal Court in March. She pressed that Duterte’s arrest was unconstitutional and initiated a Senate inquiry on the matter.
In April, she released a campaign video featuring Sara under the theme “ITIM,” which stands for “Inday [Sara] Trusts Imee Marcos,” “Ipaglalaban tayo ni Imee Marcos,” and “Ilaban ang tama, itama ang mali.”
Even the first lady is not spared from Imee’s lashings. In July, the senator called on the Palace to clarify Liza’s involvement in the death of businessman Juan Paolo Tantoco in California earlier this year, based on a viral social media post alleging that she was present at the crime scene. However, according to an ABS-CBN News report, the police report in the viral post was altered, and Liza’s name was not, in fact, mentioned.
Bongbong, on the other hand, doesn’t seem as eager to fan the flames. In her vlog, Castro said, “Tuwing mayroon akong sasabihin sa pangulo, na isyu [ni Imee], at kakausapin ko siya kung ano ang kanyang comment, nagtataas-balikat lang siya. Ni hindi siya magbabanggit ng anumang negatibo laban sayo.”
Political analyst Ronald Llamas told South China Morning Post that in her earlier years, Imee was groomed to be like her father, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. But it was Bongbong that ascended into the presidency in 2022, even though Imee was “the one ready for it.” Llamas said, “She was brighter, trained by her father.”
Political scientist Cleve Arguelles, commenting on Imee’s drug use accusations on X, said, “How infuriating it must be to be presidential sister — a senator, the self-styled brainy heir of [her] dictator father’s legacy — and yet be shut out from the real levers of power.”
Arguelles added that the Marcos drama must end with the family’s return to exile in Hawaii, and the Dutertes in The Hague. “Only then might Filipinos be spared from a dynastic feud shoved down our throats, one that keeps dividing the nation into their loyalists and supporters,” he remarked.
