Marcos definitely was a cocaine user, a close friend’s ex-partner reveals
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was a regular cocaine user, with his wife Liza most probably so, former socialite Cathy Binag claimed in an interview at popular vlogger Maharlika’s “Boldyak” the other day. The interview became viral, with 350,000 viewers at 2 p.m. of August 4.
Binag was for 10 years the partner of Davao banana magnate Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr., one of Marcos Jr.’s closest friends.
Cathy’s claim actually had been circulating for more than a decade, with then-president Rodrigo Duterte — a Davaoeño like Floirendo — disclosing before the 2022 elections that one candidate was a cocaine addict who even takes the drug in an airplane. I myself had heard about it long ago as I had two Ateneo High School friends who were with Marcos’ circle, with one having worsened his addiction, running his businesses to the ground, leading to his early death.
I think the evidence of Marcos’ cocaine use is mounting beyond reasonable doubt. Like a man, Marcos should just admit it and maybe explain it was due to his depression after his family was kicked out of the country and demonized for 36 years. After all, students of Oxford University, where he says he studied and probably got addicted, have been known to be cocaine users.
He should vow, however, that he has been for a decade cured of the addiction and that he is willing to undertake a drug test that even his critics can monitor.
Maharlika disclosed that she got to know about Binag from her intriguing Facebook posts over the allegations of Marcos’ addiction, especially one that said, “Kaunti na lang, bibinggo na kayo.” Maharlika said she herself was surprised by Binag’s revelations over Marcos’ cocaine use. Maharlika said Binag, without any hesitation, agreed to be interviewed by her over the internet.
Binag, 49 and a single mother of five, moved in the circles of the country’s super-elite when Marcos was a senator when Floirendo became her boyfriend after the politician separated from beauty queen Margie Moran, whom he was married for 30 years. By “super-elite,” I mean the less-than-a-dozen circle of Marcos’ closest friends that includes Floirendo and San Miguel’s second biggest stockholder, Iñigo Zobel, who were known to have intimate parties in their mansions. Netizen Agnes Padilla commented after watching her interview, “Cathy was candid and spontaneous in her narration. Nothing to doubt about her credibility.”
Truth
“When you’re telling the truth, you can’t invent lies that make you hesitate in your answers,” Binag said.
I don’t think we will get a more credible witness to Marcos’ cocaine addiction, apart from his cocaine-taking club. In this class-conscious society, people will believe an educated, articulate lady coming from the upper or even just middle class. They would most probably see her as a case of the 17th-century playwright’s brilliant line: “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”
While I believe her when she says that she has nothing more to lose and that the country can’t be led by such leaders as Marcos, she did tell Maharlika about her anger that when she and Floirendo separated, he didn’t give her share in the conjugal assets, that none of their mutual friends helped her, that Floirendo even threatened her that she wouldn’t be able to be married to anybody else. Binag claimed that somehow her partner’s people were able to use her ID to sell a car that Floirendo had given her and was under her name and “some other properties.”
Binag disclosed in her “Boldyak” interview that Marcos had regular cocaine sessions with a smaller set of this circle and that she even saw the future president, as well as his other friends, emerge from a room with cocaine residue on their upper lips.
Cocaine
She said she first found out about the group’s regular cocaine sessions when she chanced upon Marcos’ wife, Liza, in a hallway of the first couple’s residence after using the restroom. The first lady asked her who she was. When she replied that she was “with Tonyboy,” she raised a small s container to her and asked her, “You want?” Binag said she replied: “I don’t do that,” meaning she doesn’t take the drug. Mrs. Marcos replied gruffly: “So, why are you here? You’re not supposed to be here.” And then she left her abruptly. “Maybe she assumed I was a cocaine addict, or why would I be there? Maybe it’s because I was so thin at that time,” Binag said.
Maharlika asked her: “Do you think that video claiming to be Marcos sniffing cocaine is authentic? Binag replied: “Of course, because I know [he’s been doing that].”
Binag was quite observant at Marcos’ cocaine sessions:
– “Sometimes they don’t realize that they looked ridiculous with residues of cocaine powder on their noses or upper lips. I remember that one of them must have thought his nose was just running when it was actually blood, and someone else had to wipe off the blood.”
– “They take it repeatedly while they’re drinking alcohol, as it seems the cocaine’s effect lasts only 30 to 60 minutes.”
Binag said she later realized that Marcos’ friends did not really respect her. She claimed that in one instance, another of Marcos’ close friends, Antonio “Tonyboy” Lagdameo, who is now his “special assistant to the president,” elbowed (“binalya”) her in the comfort room of the restaurant they were having another of their cocaine sessions and flirted with her. He said: “Cathy, malapit lang ang bahay namin, andiyan lang ako kung kinakailangan mo ako.” When she complained to her partner Floirendo, he said: “Pabayaan mo lang iyan. Lasing kasi.”
Duterte
Binag said she felt bad when Marcos’ camp was clearly going after former President Duterte, his daughter Sara, and even the religious leader Pastor Quiboloy. “Sobra na ito,” she said. “Tumulong sila [in the elections], and then you will treat them that way. Such persecution happened to them (the Marcoses). You’re not supposed to do such persecution when you’ve experienced it yourself.”
“And to think that in all my life, I’ve never seen a leader such as Duterte. He used what they complained about as his being authoritarian to implement his policies. The police and the military are so united now and respect him as their leader.”
Binag had a good insight: “The side effect of being a cocaine addict is that you become narcissistic. They will never come out to talk to you, and they’ll ask other people to defend them. One side effect of cocaine addiction is that even if you’re with people, it’s as if you’re not there. It’s as if you’re not present. Nawawala ka.”
Maharlika asks: Aren’t you worried you might be killed for speaking up? “We’re talking not just about an individual but about the nation. I want my children and my children’s children to live in a better country. God will take care of me,” she replied. Indeed, Binag’s Facebook account is full of religious, inspirational and biblical quotes.
Smart
But this is a very smart woman. She revealed: “I’ve made about 50 USBs, which contain names and what they’ve done in government. I’ve given many of these to friends who will release them to the public if anything happens to me.” Maharlika asks her, Will info on this USB be explosive? “Yes, maraming madadamay. Ang daming lalabas na kasama nila.”
So far, Malacañang hasn’t issued a statement over Binag’s accusations.
What I don’t understand is this: If you have billions of pesos, why don’t you just settle your parting of ways with an ex peacefully so everybody’s happy? Kuripot? Or ego: “How dare you leave me?”
Watch the video yourself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oLgsyeBDzo. Even her cheerfulness and intelligence as she talks about very serious problems and her humility — “Who am I? I’m just a single mom with five kids” — will make you optimistic about our country’s future, if there are enough Filipinos like her.
I can’t help quoting Eric Clapton’s song but in a changed meaning: “She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie, Cocaine.”
Facebook: Rigoberto Tiglao
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Website: www.rigobertotiglao.com
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Marcos definitely was a cocaine user, a close friend’s ex-partner reveals
Source: Breaking News PH
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