One Direction's Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson ordered to pay $5,000 drug bonds in the Philippines
The request was made after an anti-drugs campaign group called for an investigation into their permits following a viral video last year
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Your support makes all the difference.Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson have been requested by the Philippines Bureau of Immigration to post bonds of $5,000 (£3,300) each before they are allowed to take to the stage for a scheduled One Direction performance in Manila this weekend.
The two singers will immediately forfeit the bond if they are caught using or promoting illegal drugs during their time in the country.
The conditions were “intended to protect the public interest should the band members commit any violation during their stay in the Philippines,” Bureau spokesperson Elaine Tan told The Guardian.
The request was made after an anti-drugs campaign group contacted the bureau and asked them to investigate Tomlinson and Malik’s work permits. The demand came following the emergence of a video of the two appearing to smoke cannabis in the back of a car in Peru on their way to a show last year.
“So here we are, leaving Peru. Joint lit. Happy days!” Tomlinson appeared to be seen saying to the camera.
Malik recently became the subject of tabloid speculation after he missed a Today show interview because of a stomach bug in November 2014.
Host Matt Lauer asked the other four singers: “Is it something more serious than just a minor illness? There have been rumours of substance abuse – what’s going on?”
To which Liam Payne replied: “No he’s just got a stomach bug, he’s okay. He’s just at home. He just needs to rest.”
“I’m really angry and upset by what was said on The Today Show,” Malik later told The Sun. “I was really ill at the weekend, that’s why I couldn’t fly to America.”
A spokesperson for One Direction is yet to respond to request for comment.