Duterte still studying arming village chiefs–Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposal to arm barangay chairs in their anticrime and antinarcotics drive is not yet final.

Malacañang said the President was still contemplating the proposition to ensure that village chiefs who might be in the government’s the “narcolist” would not get any firearms.

Village chiefs in ‘narcolist’

“This is not yet final and the President is still studying this,” said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a press briefing on Monday. “If the barangay officials included in the narcolist are given firearms, then they will become even more powerful.”

Last week, the President said he was considering the possibility of arming village chiefs to help them in the fight against crime and illegal drugs.

“I might consider arming you,” the President told an audience of elected village chiefs.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency bared in April a “narcolist” of 207 barangay officials linked to the illegal drug trade.