MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Wednesday said it will validate reports that the name of Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido is allegedly included on the drug list of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“I will have to confirm if true or not,” Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a phone interview with Malacañang Press Corps. “We will validate that.”
“Malabo yun. lalo pa galing sa Rappler. Basta pag Rappler, laging kwestyunable. But syempre if that is officially received by the Office of the President, the President will investigate,” Panelo added.
Espenido, one of the poster boys of the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs, is reportedly in the President’s drug list as confirmed by two police generals, a Rappler report said.
He became controversial after the deaths of Mayor Rolando Espinosa in Albuera, Leyte who was shot while in detention, and Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog in Ozamiz City, where he was previously assigned.
Both local chief executives were supposedly linked to illegal drugs.