PDEA chief willing to divulge list of high-value drug targets to Robredo

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino and Vice President Leni Robredo preside over the Interagency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs meeting in this file photo. INQUIRER file photo / LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippine — The head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Saturday that he is willing to present the classified list of high-value drug targets to Vice President Leni Robredo, newly-appointed anti-drug czar, but only on a closed-door meeting.

PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said access on the list, which contains highly classified information, still needs security clearance.

“Sa pinaka simpleng explanation — kapag binigay namin ang listahan kay VP Robredo hindi na namin alam kung sino sino ang magkakaroon ng access sa listahan. That will compromise our negation operations,” Aquino said in a statement.

(In a very simple explanation, if we give the list to VP Robredo, we would no longer know who will get access to the list. That will compromise our negation operations.)

Aquino also noted that not everybody, even himself, is given access to “sensitive and classified information.”

“I myself has no copy of the list in my possession. What I am doing is I check it from time to time with my intelligence service and conduct workshops against these personalities,” Aquino said.

The PDEA official said this is not an act of resistance or disrespect to Robredo but it is a “standard operation procedure on law enforcement operations.”

Edited by JPV