Validated list shows 93 elected officials with drug links – PDEA
Published May 1, 2018 04:05 pm
By CHITO A. CHAVEZ
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is not yet through with its list of personalities with drug links.
NARCO LIST – PDEA chief Aaron Aquino holds the eight-page list of the names of 207 barangay officials identified as being involved in illegal drugs, during a press conference at PDEA headquarters in Quezon City Monday. (Mark Balmores)
After releasing the names of 90 village chiefs and 117 councilmen with drug links Monday, the agency said it is waiting for President Duterte’s approval to make public the validated list which bears the names of 93 elected officials nationwide allegedly with links to illegal drugs.
“We have 93 names, from vice mayor up. Vice mayor, mayor, congressman, governor, vice governor. I have 93 in the narco list,” Aquino said.
“I’ll wait for the order of the President,” he added.
Aquino said the government’s campaign against illegal drugs aims to cover all bases to ensure that the whole country is drug free when the President’s term ends in 2022.
But Aquino admits PDEA cannot do it alone. He acknowledged that the cooperation of the public and the media is necessary to thwart groups with illegal drug transactions.
The figures may vary, Aquino explained as some barangays previously declared drug-free were affected anew when syndicates resumed business.
In 2017, there were about 5,077 barangays who were declared drug-free but 2,023 became drug-affected because of the involvement of barangay officials who protected the drug trade.
Barangay captains, however who are not on the narco-list are not yet off the hook as the agency along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) continues its validation of 274 names.
Aquino assured the public that there will be “no cover-up” that will unjustly favor anybody including Duterte supporters.
He added that the involvement of the four intelligence agencies in the verification and validation of the narco-list is a testament to the accuracy of the roster of barangay official with illegal drug connections.
Aquino said being charged over the release of the narco-list is the least of his concern.
DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo Año said with the release of the validated drug list, he expects the electorate to vote wisely and reject candidates with drug links.
Premature
While the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People backed the release of the narco-list, senators have contrasting views.
ECMI chairman Bishop Ruperto Santos said, “the public has the right to know and be informed whom they have to vote.”
The Balanga prelate said narco-politicians should be exposed, “to safeguard our children, to make our future secure,” said Santos.
But Sen. Gregorio Honasan II objects to what he described as “premature release not only of the narco-list but any list because of our historical propensity to try and convict institutions groups and personalities by publicity, at the expense of due process and the rule of law.”
“This is not to mention violation of rights to life liberty property and honor. If warranted by strong evidence, file appropriate charges expeditiously,’’ the chair of the Senate national defense and security committee added.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson agrees with Honasan on the alleged “premature” release of the validated list. “Only sufficient evidence that merits the filing of a criminal case can validate an intelligence report,” said Lacson, a former PNP chief. “In fact, the purpose an intelligence report is to discreetly build up a case against the subject of such report, not forewarn or publicly humiliate him,” he added.
File charges
“What we actually need to cleanse drug-infested barangays is for guilty verdicts to be handed down against proven narco-pols in the courts of law,” Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian said.
“We’ve waited in vain for almost two years for the Department of the Interior and Local Government to act on its promise to file cases against alleged narco-pols.” he stressed.
“Now is the time for the DILG to finally make good on its promise by spearheading the immediate filing of administrative and criminal raps against the barangay officials named on the drug list,” he added.
The DILG filed administrative charges (misconduct and dereliction of duty) before the Office of the Ombudsman Monday against five Manila barangay captains over their failure to organize a Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADAC) that was suppose to lead the campaign against illegal drugs in their area of jurisdiction. (With reports from Leslie Ann G. Aquino and Mario B. Casayuran)
NARCO LIST – PDEA chief Aaron Aquino holds the eight-page list of the names of 207 barangay officials identified as being involved in illegal drugs, during a press conference at PDEA headquarters in Quezon City Monday. (Mark Balmores)
After releasing the names of 90 village chiefs and 117 councilmen with drug links Monday, the agency said it is waiting for President Duterte’s approval to make public the validated list which bears the names of 93 elected officials nationwide allegedly with links to illegal drugs.
“We have 93 names, from vice mayor up. Vice mayor, mayor, congressman, governor, vice governor. I have 93 in the narco list,” Aquino said.
“I’ll wait for the order of the President,” he added.
Aquino said the government’s campaign against illegal drugs aims to cover all bases to ensure that the whole country is drug free when the President’s term ends in 2022.
But Aquino admits PDEA cannot do it alone. He acknowledged that the cooperation of the public and the media is necessary to thwart groups with illegal drug transactions.
The figures may vary, Aquino explained as some barangays previously declared drug-free were affected anew when syndicates resumed business.
In 2017, there were about 5,077 barangays who were declared drug-free but 2,023 became drug-affected because of the involvement of barangay officials who protected the drug trade.
Barangay captains, however who are not on the narco-list are not yet off the hook as the agency along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) continues its validation of 274 names.
Aquino assured the public that there will be “no cover-up” that will unjustly favor anybody including Duterte supporters.
He added that the involvement of the four intelligence agencies in the verification and validation of the narco-list is a testament to the accuracy of the roster of barangay official with illegal drug connections.
Aquino said being charged over the release of the narco-list is the least of his concern.
DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo Año said with the release of the validated drug list, he expects the electorate to vote wisely and reject candidates with drug links.
Premature
While the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People backed the release of the narco-list, senators have contrasting views.
ECMI chairman Bishop Ruperto Santos said, “the public has the right to know and be informed whom they have to vote.”
The Balanga prelate said narco-politicians should be exposed, “to safeguard our children, to make our future secure,” said Santos.
But Sen. Gregorio Honasan II objects to what he described as “premature release not only of the narco-list but any list because of our historical propensity to try and convict institutions groups and personalities by publicity, at the expense of due process and the rule of law.”
“This is not to mention violation of rights to life liberty property and honor. If warranted by strong evidence, file appropriate charges expeditiously,’’ the chair of the Senate national defense and security committee added.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson agrees with Honasan on the alleged “premature” release of the validated list. “Only sufficient evidence that merits the filing of a criminal case can validate an intelligence report,” said Lacson, a former PNP chief. “In fact, the purpose an intelligence report is to discreetly build up a case against the subject of such report, not forewarn or publicly humiliate him,” he added.
File charges
“What we actually need to cleanse drug-infested barangays is for guilty verdicts to be handed down against proven narco-pols in the courts of law,” Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian said.
“We’ve waited in vain for almost two years for the Department of the Interior and Local Government to act on its promise to file cases against alleged narco-pols.” he stressed.
“Now is the time for the DILG to finally make good on its promise by spearheading the immediate filing of administrative and criminal raps against the barangay officials named on the drug list,” he added.
The DILG filed administrative charges (misconduct and dereliction of duty) before the Office of the Ombudsman Monday against five Manila barangay captains over their failure to organize a Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADAC) that was suppose to lead the campaign against illegal drugs in their area of jurisdiction. (With reports from Leslie Ann G. Aquino and Mario B. Casayuran)