Vehicles arrive at the St. Luke’s Hospital in Quezon City on August 10, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA - St. Luke's Medical Center on Thursday said its drug test results on circulating on social media are in "standard format" and are "common" in authorized laboratories.
St. Luke's released the statement days after the camp of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. showed his negative drug test results. The test conducted by the hospital's branch in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Marcos' camp submitted the test result to authorities.
But social media users pointed out that the document, which lacked a letterhead, seemed fabricated as the paper is supposedly different from the ones being issued in the hospital.
They also said "Barangay Ususan," which was indicated in the drug test result as the address of St. Luke's Taguig, is allegedly not the "real" location of the hospital there.
"The format of the printed test result is standard and common among all healthcare facilities authorized by the Department of Health to conduct dangerous drug tests," the statement from the hospital read.
"Regarding the mention of Brgy. Ususan as our location, this is because that is the only available location in DOH Integrated Drug Test Operation Management Information System when St. Luke's Medical Center - Global City was accredited in Taguig in 2010," it added.
The hospital did not say whose drug test it is clarifying, but warned social media users about spreading false information.
"We strongly encourage the public to refrain from posting misleading and inaccurate information... St. Luke's calls on everyone to verify the information that they receive from others and the information they plan to post online."
Marcos' spokesperson, lawyer Vic Rodriguez, said they cannot do anything about skeptics.
“Wala na tayong maibibigay na paliwanag doon sa ayaw mapaliwanagan. Hindi ko na kayang magpaunawa doon sa tunay na ayaw magpaunawa. Basta we have presented the drug test result," Rodriguez added.
(We cannot do anything to those who do not want to believe. I cannot let them believe it if they do not want to.)
Marcos and other presidential bets for the 2022 elections started undergoing drug tests this week after President Rodrigo Duterte alleged that one of them, who comes from a wealthy family and has an influential name, uses cocaine.
— With a report from Jacque Manabat, ABS-CBN News
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