ependency dating back decades and that his supposed addiction had led to “a flood of corruption, lack of direction, very wrong decisions, and the absence of accountability and justice.” She also claimed, without presenting evidence, that the president’s wife and children were involved in drug use. Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, speaking on behalf of the president, rejected the allegations as baseless and recycled, stating that similar claims had been disproven in the past. Castro noted that during Marcos Jr’s 2021 presidential campaign, medical and police laboratory reports confirmed he tested negative for cocaine and methamphetamine. Senator Marcos further alleged that her brother’s drug use began during the rule of their father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr, who governed the Philippines from 1965 until his ouster in 1986. Marcos Jr has consistently denied the allegations. Castro sharply criticised the senator for raising new accusations while ignoring reports about former President Rodrigo Duterte’s admitted fentanyl use and allegations of corruption involving Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte — claims both deny. Accusations Emerge as Corruption Scandal Widens The drug-use allegations come as the Marcos administration investigates a large-scale corruption scandal involving ghost flood-control projects. Officials are accused of siphoning off billions of pesos through contracts for flood defences that were poorly built or never constructed. The Department of Finance estimates that the economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos ($2bn) between 2023 and 2025 due to fraud linked to the projects. Government officials have warned that as much as 70 percent of the country’s flood-control budget may have been lost to corruption. Castro labelled Senator Marcos’s remarks an attempt to distract from the ongoing probe, saying the senator should “help in the investigation … and condemn all the corrupt,” rather than undermine the president. The scandal unfolds as the Philippines experiences a year of severe weather, with more than 20 storms so far. Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 269 people in early November, followed by Typhoon Fung-wong, which displaced 1.4 million and left 28 dead. Mass Protests Demand Accountability Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Manila on Sunday, calling for accountability from government officials, including allies of President Marcos. The rally — organised by the influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) — ran for three days and disrupted offices, schools, and major roads. The INC, which backed Marcos and Sara Duterte in 2022, has since shifted its support toward the vice president following a political rift. Marcos has pledged swift action against officials implicated in the scandal, promising arrests before the end of the year. “They’ll be jailed — there’s no merry Christmas for them,” he said. Nearly 100 days into the investigation, however, no major arrests have been made. The government maintains that the crackdown is part of a broader push for transparency, even as critics draw comparisons to the corruption controversies that surrounded Marcos’s father during his decades-long rule.