Though disappointing, it wasn’t unexpected that the government would eventually disclose a new list of suspected narcopoliticans including those running in this month’s barangay elections through its Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
What is significant is that the agency got approval from President Rodrigo Duterte to disclose the list and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it doesn’t violate election laws since the campaign period had yet to start this Friday.
What is also surprising is that not one barangay official nor candidate in Metro Cebu was included in the list.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena declined to elaborate other than to say he was surprised—one could say he expected a certain barangay and its officials to be in the list—but didn’t qualify his reaction while Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing called on the PDEA to verify and re-evaluate their list further.
In fact the only Cebuanos who made the list were former barangay officials Ramonette Durano of Danao City, Marc Ferdinand Bas of Talisay City and Bibiano Cabaron of Ronda town.
As it turned out, sources told Cebu Daily News that Ramonette Durano is now based in the US while Rep. Ramon Durano IV of Cebu’s 5th district said there were no records of any Ramonette Durano who lived in Barangay Suba, Danao City and served as an information
officer of the Danao City government.
Which brings to mind yet another concern about this narco list being bandied by the government.
In the absence of charges to be filed against the suspected narco politicians, the disclosure of the list is tantamount to pronouncing the suspects as guilty even before they undergo due process.
While the PDEA promised to file charges against the suspects and it may have filed some against those in the list, this one bit of information on Ramonette Durano—who may or may not exist if the records are to be believed—shows that the agency tasked with spearheading the government’s anti-drug campaign may not have an airtight case against their targets.
Even if Cebu doesn’t have any narco politicians in the list that are incumbent barangay officials, there’s no telling if those who are engaged in the illegal drug trade merely went underground to avoid the heat and tide it over.
Also, what’s to prevent the government from coming out with another list of suspected narcopoliticians in next year’s national elections? It may be used to silence critics or those not aligned with the administration into immediate subservience, a dangerous precedent too disturbing to contemplate.