Village politics fouling up antidrug drive

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN—The Philippine National Police said it was validating its drug watch lists, after noting that some village officials had been listing supporters of their political rivals months before the village and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October.

“This is why we have to validate the lists to ensure that the names of the innocent would be excluded,” Senior Supt. Oliver Lee, acting Pangasinan police director, said on Wednesday.

The lists were provided by the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADAC), but Lee did not elaborate which of these should be scrutinized.

Mayor Simplicio Rosario of Binmaley said some village chairs in his town had listed their opponents’ names.

He said this should alert the police because the drug watch lists may be used to discredit people running for village posts.

From July 1 to 11, 777 people had surrendered to the police, Lee said, adding that most of them had admitted using or selling illegal drugs. He said eight drug suspects were killed during police operations. Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon