Malacañang: Imee Marcos defending a self-confessed murderer
MANILA, Philippines — The gloves are off as Malacañang slammed presidential sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, anew, calling her a protector of a self-confessed murderer—referring to the former president Rodrigo Duterte.
During the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s anti-corruption rally, Imee accused her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., of taking illegal drugs. In her allegations, Imee appeared to be parroting Duterte’s earlier drug accusations against Marcos.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, however, said it was clear that Imee was protecting someone.
“Ang iningay niya dito ay pabor pa mismo sa taong umaming siya ay murderer. Hindi man lang yata niya inisip ang kalagayan ng mga taong diumanong biktima ng EJK (extrajudicial killings),” Castro said. (She makes a noise in favor of a person who has confessed to being a murder. She did not think of the victims of the people who were victims of EJKs.)
As early as 2016, Duterte admitted to personally killing people. He also said he killed at least three people when he was still the mayor of Davao.
The former president has also claimed responsibility for the war on drugs, which took the lives of at least 6,000 people—with many rights groups believing that the number could be as high as 30,000.
Imee famously betrayed her brother in the 2025 midterm elections after leaving his presidential slate and joining Vice President Sara Duterte’s picks for senators—a move that earned her the 12th and last place, but elected, nonetheless.
Her support for the Dutertes also extended well into her term as a senator after she used her role in Senate committees to question the legality of the Davao patriarch’s arrest and turnover to the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he currently awaits trial for crimes against humanity.
Asked if her change in tone against Imee was allowed by the president, Castro said she was simply there to counter disinformation.
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