Sen. Richard Gordon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / CATHY MIRANDA
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino should file criminal cases against showbiz personalities suspected of being involved with illegal drugs, Sen. Richard Gordon said Saturday.
“That’s unfair. Why are you resorting to publicity? Aaron, General Aaron, catch them. File cases against them,” Gordon, speaking in a mix of Filipino and English, told DWIZ’s “Usapang Senado.”
Gordon made this statement after the PDEA chief dropped hints that celebrities suspected of being drug traffickers would be included on the government’s drug watchlist.
So far, Aquino has bared that, among the 31 suspected celebrities, 11 are actresses and 20 are actors. A showbiz loveteam was also among those on the list.
READ: PDEA chief: 20 actors, 11 actresses on drugs watchlist | Showbiz love team on drug watch list likely in their 20s, says PDEA chief
Gordon, who is a lawyer, said all public personalities should be presumed innocent.
“I am a public persona. A mayor is a public persona. And even an artist is a public persona. Even then, we have the right not to be accused. You are presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” Gordon said. “If we don’t want that kind of democracy, then we should just change the Constitution — that everybody is presumed guilty until proven otherwise. Is that what we want?”
When the so-called narcolist came out, Gordon urged authorities to file a case before releasing the names included in the list.
The government’s narcolist includes 46 politicians involved in the illegal drug trade, according to President Rodrigo Duterte. /jpv
READ: Gordon says exposing names in gov’t narcolist is ‘unfair’
RELATED STORY: PDEA chief says ‘celebrity’ pushers in drugs watchlist