“We see in the blog report the danger of online spaces where questions are framed not to seek answers but to stir doubt and anger”
WE ARE impelled to pull up to a recent blog post attempting to link First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos to the drug-related death on March 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California of 44-year-old Filipino businessman Juan Paolo Tantoco.
The claims are “deeply irresponsible” and “morally dishonest,” with the blogger exploiting a private tragedy for political gain.
“A man is dead. His wife is grieving. And instead of respecting that grief, this blogger decided to drag someone else into it just because of who she works for. That’s not seeking the truth. That’s targeting people for sport.”
The blog, titled “Cocktail Party of the Rich,” purportedly detailing the results of the toxicology – the study of the effects of chemical, biological, and physical agents on living organisms, particularly humans – confirming drug use by Tantoco, administrator of the department store chain Rustan’s.
His wife, the former Dina Arroyo, coincidentally serves as the Social Secretary to the First Lady.
But it goes further, suggesting – without proof – that the First Lady herself might have been involved or should be held accountable.
We have unimpeachable information Mrs. Marcos wasn’t in the room, wasn’t mentioned in the police reports, her name doesn’t appear anywhere in the investigation. So why are we even talking about her in this context?
Tantoco was found dead at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles and was formally declared dead on March 8, 2025, with the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office declaring his official cause of death to be a drug overdose from the use of cocaine.
His death was also claimed without concrete evidence to be a diversion tactic from the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte on March 11 in Metro Manila for the International Criminal Court in The Netherlands.
We see in the blog report the danger of online spaces where questions are framed not to seek answers but to stir doubt and anger.
The so-called questions being thrown at the First Lady aren’t questions at all, just loaded bullets dressed up as curiosity.
The call by the blogger for the First Lady to undergo a drug test is baseless and an insulting demand.
Why should she take a drug test? Because she knows someone who made a mistake? That’s not justice. That’s bullying. It’s exactly what’s wrong with the way we handle public discourse.
We have seen the first lady up close, a disciplined, driven, and serious person about the responsibilities of her position who does not tolerate nonsense, let alone something this dangerous and foolish.
This should be a time for compassion, not character assassination. Let’s allow the authorities in Los Angeles to finish their work. Let’s allow a family to mourn in peace. Let’s stop pretending that every tragedy must have a political angle.
We can demand accountability without abandoning decency. We can ask hard questions without turning into online mobs. And we can choose to honor the truth, even when it’s less sensational.
(The author, who holds a master’s in national security administration and a doctorate in philosophy, is the Chairman Emeritus of Alyansa ng Bantay sa Kapayapaan at Demokrasya, Peoples Alliance for Democracy and Reforms, Liga Independencia Pilipinas and Filipinos Do Not Yield Movement.)
