Subic mayor in ‘narcolist’ denies links to illegal drugs
SUBIC, ZAMBALES — Mayor Jefferson “Jay” Khonghun, who is included in the so-called narco-list of President Duterte denied that he and his father, Rep. Jeffrey Khonghun of the province’s 1st district, were in any way connected to illegal drugs.
The younger Khonghun is running for vice governor in the province while his father is a reelectionist.
“There’s no truth to it … It’s quite unfair,” the mayor said on a Facebook video uploaded a day before Duterte made public the narco-list.
“Papalapit na po ang elections. At talaga naman pong kapag panahon ng elections is napakadaming mga paninira … Lalo na po sa aming pamilya, sa akin pong pagkatao. Lalo na po iyong aking mga katunggali, maraming sinasabi patungkol sa aking pagkatao, which is parang hindi pa yata tama,” Khonghun said.
On the video, the mayor is seen with his girlfriend actress Aiko Melendez. He said he was anticipating his name to be included in the narco-list because his rivals in politics have been spreading the information even before Mr. Duterte announced it.
“Sinasabi nga daw po nila na kami nga raw po ay mga drug lord, kami raw po ay mga drug pusher, kami raw po ay mga drug addict … Sinasabi nila sa mga meeting, minsan napopost pa sa Facebook at talagang kami naman po ay hindi sumasagot dahil alam po namin na walang katotohanan yung kanilang mga sinasabi,” the mayor added.
Khonghun said the allegations against him and his father were “unacceptable” and believed their rivals could be behind their inclusion in the list.
“Kami po ay nagtataka kung bakit alam na po niya na kami ay nasa listahan samantalang yung ibang ahensya ng gobyerno hindi pa nga po alam itong mga nasa listahan,” he said.
The Khonghuns have yet to issue a new statement after Duterte released the narcolist, which confirmed their inclusion in the said list./lzb
