A Facebook page posted a news clip showing Palace Press Officer Claire Castro supposedly calling President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. an “addict” and “bangag (intoxicated by drugs),” accusing him of abusing fentanyl. This is not true.
Uploaded on Sept. 13, the 18-second video featured superimposed text questioning why Castro was badmouthing Marcos. She can be heard saying:
“Kay Pangulong Marcos Jr, adik, bangag. At inamin niya rin na ang paggamit niya ng fentanyl ay inabuso niya dahil masarap daw ‘yung pakiramdam, cloud nine ang feeling.
(President Marcos Jr. is an addict, a junkie. He also admitted that he abused his use of fentanyl because he supposedly enjoyed the feeling, saying it felt like being on cloud nine.)”
The post was also captioned:
“SINISIRAAN NA NI CLAIRE CASTRO ANG AMO NYA……Ano nangyari MADAAM (sic) parang umiba ang tingin mo sa kanya?
(Claire Castro is now badmouthing her boss…What happened, Madam? It seems like your view of him has changed?)”
The clip was a spliced and edited portion of a Sept. 11 GMA News’ 24 Oras report on Malacañang’s response to Vice President Sara Duterte’s call for the president’s resignation, accusing Marcos of being a liar, an abusive and corrupt leader, an addict and the “problem of the nation.”
Slamming Duterte’s drug accusations against Marcos, Castro flipped the script and pointed out the previous admission of drug use by former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“Former president Duterte himself admitted it when he was president that he used marijuana. He also admitted that he abused his use of fentanyl because he supposedly enjoyed the feeling, saying it felt like being on cloud nine,” Castro said in Filipino.
“When her father admitted to using illegal drugs, did she call her father an addict? A junkie? So whatever your family does, don’t pin it on Marcos,” she added.
In 2016, the patriarch Duterte revealed he was “abusing” the pain reliever fentanyl due to a spinal injury from previous motorcycle accidents, using more than the prescribed patches.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is estimated to be 100 times more potent than morphine and is typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery.
A year later, he reiterated his controversial use of the said painkiller, noting that “more than the disappearance of pain, you feel that you are on cloud nine.”
In 2018, he admitted taking marijuana, an illegal substance in the Philippines, to stay awake amid a hectic schedule during foreign travels. He later clarified it was a joke.
Whether in jest or not, Human Rights Watch condemned Duterte’s admission of using marijuana at the time as it “undermines the rationale for his ‘drug war’ and exposes its murderous hypocrisy.” “It adds cruel insult to injury for the victims and their families,” the group noted.
The former chief executive is currently facing crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court in connection with the extrajudicial killings during his administration’s war on drugs. The elder Duterte’s trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 30.
The edited clip surfaced two days after the vice president called on Marcos to step down from his post, urging her supporters to “continue fighting the abusive ones, the addicts, and the corrupt.”
The younger Duterte was charged with grave threats before a Quezon City court for saying in November 2024 that she had asked someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed.
Her threats are likewise cited as one of the articles in her ongoing impeachment case before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.
The video with untrue claims, published by FB page TAONG BAYAN BLOG (created June 26, 2026), has so far received 2,600 reactions; 221 comments; 789 shares and 82,000 views.
