Duterte includes Agusan del Sur judge on drug list

DAVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said the Agusan del Sur regional trial court judge, who survived an assassination attempt in Butuan City on Sept. 23, was included in his new narco list that contained the names of more than two dozen other judges.

Speaking at the National Biennial Summit on Women and Community Policing attended by more than 500 policewomen from across the country, he said the new list had been revalidated and was found to be accurate.

Duterte’s revelation about Judge Hector Salise, the presiding judge of RTC 7 in Bayugan City, contradicted the view that the judge was an antidrug advocate.

Salise, who handled several drug cases and was behind the issuance of search warrants against drug suspects in Agusan del Sur, was on his Toyota Innova being driven by his police escort, SPO1 Edmund Narvasa, when fired at along the Agusan del Sur Diversion Road in Barangay Lemon in Butuan City.

He was on his way to work.

Earlier, Bayugan City police director Supt. Reynante Sibayton said they were looking at the possibility that some suspects in the Buri St. drug trade in the city were trying to get back at Salise, who issued search warrants that backed the crackdown there a few months back.

Sibayton said Salise never confided any threats to his life.