Duterte to dismantle ‘contaminated’ PDEA if he wins presidency

Presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to disband the “contaminated” Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) if he wins the presidency in May.

“I will dismantle PDEA. It’s already been contaminated,” Duterte said in Bisaya during a campaign sortie in Tacloban City on Monday.

Duterte did not elaborate his statement but has said in previous sorties that some members of PDEA were involved in the illegal drug trade.

READ: Duterte alleges high-ranking PNP officials have drug ties

In 2014, Duterte ordered the burning of P500 million worth of cocaine in Davao City, saying it would end up being resold in the streets if the illegal drugs won’t be destroyed in his city.

“I will not allow it to leave Davao… When it reaches Manila it will be circulated again,” the mayor said.

READ: Duterte: ‘Fake drug raids’ set in Davao City to discredit me on request of ‘candidate’

During his campaign rally in Tacloban, Duterte endorsed former PDEA director general Dionisio Santiago and asked the public to support his senatorial bid.

“If you don’t vote for him, I will appoint him. But not to PDEA, it will have a different name. I have to disband PDEA,” he said.

During his stint at PDEA, Santiago admitted that he had investigated several members of the agency for allegedly coddling drug pushers and drug lords.

Santiago said he was disappointed that some of the personnel he investigated were still active in duty.

“They were adopted by those who replaced me,” he said.

“There is something wrong going on [in] PDEA,” he added said.

He said “a lifestyle check should be done among PDEA personnel,” saying the cleansing at the anti-drug enforcement agency should be a continuing process.

“We must closely follow the investigation on personnel who have cases all the way up to the Civil Service Commission,” he said.

While the tandem of Duterte and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has no Senate slate, the tough-talking mayor has vowed to support the candidacy of Santiago.

The Duterte-Cayetano tandem is running on a platform of eradicating criminality, illegal drugs and corruption in government within the first six months of their administration. IDL

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