(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. shrugged off the tirades of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte regarding his supposed drug addiction, attributing them to fentanyl, a drug that the former leader had taken.

"It is highly addictive, and it has very serious side effects. And PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) has been taking the drug for a very long time now," Marcos told reporters just before leaving on Monday for a two-day state visit to Vietnam.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during his speech in Davao, southern Philippines late Sunday Jan. 28, 2024. Former President Duterte is throwing allegations at his successor, Fernando Marcos Jr., and even raising the prospect of removing him from office, bringing into the open a long-rumored split between the two. (AP Photo/Manman Dejeto)

"When was the last time he told us that he was taking fentanyl? Around five, six years ago? Something like that. After five, six years, it has [to have] an effect. That's why I think he's like that," he added in English and Filipino.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the United States describes fentanyl as "a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine."

In 2016, Duterte said that he had used fentanyl in the past to ease pain caused by spinal injuries from a motorbike accident but has not acknowledged ongoing use of the drug.

Duterte's former spokesman and lawyer Salvador Panelo said he had stopped taking fentanyl before his presidency because the pain had disappeared.

"The effect of excessive use of fentanyl is the risk of getting a fatal stroke. The effect does not include affecting or diminishing the mental faculties of the patient," Panelo said in a statement Monday.

The President urged Duterte's physicians to "take better care" of the former leader's medical concerns.

"I hope his doctors take better care of them. Those kinds of problems must not be neglected," he said.

In an expletive-laden speech in Davao City late Sunday, Duterte accused Marcos of being a drug addict and often "high" on illegal substances while carrying out his duties as President. He claimed that he saw Marcos' name on the watchlist of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The PDEA has refuted Duterte's claim, saying the President "is not and was never" on its National Drug Information System (NDIS).

In 2021, when he was a presidential aspirant, Marcos' spokesman showed two reports from a private hospital and the national police laboratory that separately said Marcos tested negative for cocaine and methamphetamine.

Duterte alleged that Marcos' legislative allies are plotting to amend the Constitution to lift term limits and warned that could lead to him being ousted like his father — the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Members of the House of Representatives have been talking about amending the Constitution, and Duterte claimed without offering any evidence that lawmakers who support Marcos, including House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, are bribing local officials to amend the 1987 Constitution to remove term limits so they can extend their grip on power.

Romualdez, who is Marcos' cousin, has denied that claim, saying he wants the Constitution amended only to remove restrictions on foreign investment.

Marcos has said he was open to altering economic provisions of the Constitution but opposed changing a provision that restricts foreign ownership of land and other critical industries like the media.

Opponents of opening the Constitution to changes include the Senate. It issued a statement last week warning its checks-and-balance role could be undermined if the House proceeded with plans to pursue amendments in a joint session rather than by separate voting in the 24-member Senate and the 316-strong House.

The 1987 Constitution, which is laden with safeguards to prevent dictatorships, came into force a year after Marcos' strongman father was ousted by an army-backed "people power" uprising amid allegations of plunder and human rights atrocities during his rule.

The speech put credence into months of rumors about a political split with his successor even though Duterte's daughter Sara is Marcos' vice president following their landslide election victory in 2022.

In recent weeks, Duterte's supporters have been angered by reports of an unannounced visit by International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators last month who are probing widespread killings during the anti-drug crackdown Duterte launched as president. The reported visit has not been confirmed.

Duterte, who ordered a crackdown that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead, claimed in his speech without offering any evidence that Marcos was once on a law enforcement list of suspected drug users.

"You, the military, you know this; we have a president who's a drug addict," Duterte said to cheers from a few thousand supporters.

The two men also have differences over foreign policy.

While Duterte nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin while in office, Marcos has been seen as veering toward Washington due to his country's territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Early last year, Marcos allowed an expansion of the US military presence in the Philippines under a 2014 defense pact.

Marcos led his own rally Sunday at Rizal Park in Manila, which police said drew about 400,000 people after nightfall.

The rally was called to launch what Marcos says is a campaign for a "new Philippines" by reforming corrupt and inefficient governance and boosting public services. During the gathering, the President stayed nonconfrontational in the face of the escalating criticisms from Duterte's camp.

In a statement Monday, the PDEA said from the time the NDIS was established in 2002 up to the present, Marcos was never on its database.

It said it regularly conducts intelligence workshops in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies to update the NDIS.

When Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016, his administration came out with what was initially called the "narco list."

The list became the Inter-Agency Drug Information Database, PDEA said.

"The name of President Marcos is also not on the said list," the agency said.

WITH ASSOCIATED PRESS

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