PDEA LIST BARED TODAY
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is set to release today, Friday (April 27), President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of 289 barangay officials who are allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
This was confirmed by PDEA-7 Director Emerson Margate yesterday. He however, could not confirm if there are Cebuanos on the list.
“Sa ngayon, dun sa 289, hindi namin alam kung ilan du’n ang taga Cebu. (For now, we still don’t know how many of the 289 is from Cebu),” he added.
The revelation, if it will push through, will come a week before the start of the campaign period for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on May 4.
Margate said that national and regional-scale validations were done, and that they are coordinating with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to make sure that the list is credible.
Double burden
On top of revealing the names of so-called narco-politicians, which range from barangay captains to councilors, the PDEA-7 director also said that administrative or criminal cases or both will be filed against those in the list.
“These are elected officials. The DILG is also assessing whether or not these accused barangay officials have a functioning BADAC (Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council) in their respective local government units. A non-functioning BADAC will be one of the basis for filing administrative complaints against them,” said Margate.
However, he clarified that those whose names will be included in the list can still pursue their political bids because there’s no conviction yet.
Support
Meanwhile, several key officials in Cebu supported PDEA’s move to reveal the names of alleged narco-politicians in the barangay level.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña backed President Duterte’s move to make the list public but both also urged authorities to give those accused the chance to defend themselves.
“I would agree with the proposition nga i-publish man gali ubanan dayon og kiha aron mahatagan og chance pud dayon ang naa sa list (they should file a case so it would give a chance to those on the list to answer the allegation),” said Davide.
Osmeña meanwhile, warned that he may disown members of his Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) party who are included in the narcolist.
“But naay daghan intriga sad (These are full intrigues). We will see. Atong tan-awon unsay basis no (Let’s see the basis of the accusations). (Because this is) an issue of transparency. Why we won’t let the people know? Anyway, they have the the chance to explain,” said Osmeña.
On Wednesday, PDEA Director Aaron Aquino said that the Palace already gave him the clearance to publish the names of village officials on the narco list within the week. /With PIT Intern Marthy Lubiano, reports from Morexette Marie B. Erram and Inqurer.net