President Marcos remains focused on governance despite a spike in political noise, Malacañang said, stressing that “baseless and recycled claims” will not derail the President’s work.

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez said this after presidential sister, Senator Imee Marcos, alleged that President Marcos is using illegal drugs, a claim that first surfaced during the 2022 elections.

In an interview with ANC, Gomez said the Chief Executive is “fully engaged” in disaster response and day-to-day governance, even as he faces Cabinet changes and allegations of supposed drug use and involvement in budget insertions.

“Patuloy ang trabaho ng Pangulo natin (The President continues to work),” he said Tuesday, Nov. 18.

“As we speak, the President is in Bicol right now checking on the relief operations sa mga nasalanta nating kababayan nung huling bagyo (checking on relief operations for our countrymen affected by the recent typhoon),” he added.

According to Gomez, governance “does not stop,” noting the scale of the challenges being handled by the administration.

“Napakalaki ng responsibilidad ng ating Pangulo (The President has a big responsibility). And he will not stop. He will not dignify any and all of these wild allegations that are swirling around at the moment,” he said.

Gomez said many of the claims circulating online and in the political arena are “laughable,” echoing the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s statement about a “pandemic of lies.”

Despite this, he advised the public to exercise caution.

“Napakaraming kasinungalingan na ang lumilipad left and right. Maging mapanuri tayo sa mga impormasyon… napakadali na ngayong magsinungaling sa mga panahon na ito (So many lies are flying left and right. Let us be discerning… it is very easy to lie in these times),” he said.

He addressed allegations raised once again by Sen. Marcos, saying the accusation had already been publicly resolved during the 2022 campaign when President Marcos voluntarily took a drug test at St. Luke’s Medical Center.

“Negative sa cocaine use (He tested negative for cocaine use),” Gomez said of the result.

“At ang resulta ng drug test na ’yun ay mahigit 30 million Filipinos voted for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. So lumang tugtugin na (More than 30 million Filipinos voted for Marcos — this is an old tune),” he added.

Gomez lamented that the accusation came from the President’s family.

“Nakakalungkot nga na nanggaling pa ito sa sarili mong kapatid. Kaya hindi na idi-dignify ng Pangulo ito (It is unfortunate that it came from his own sibling. The President will no longer dignify this),” he said.