Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino clarified on Friday that the list of “narco-politicians” used as basis for stripping 23 mayors and a governor of their power over the police was not made and validated solely by the agency.
In a press briefing after the destruction of illegal drugs in a PDEA facility in Cavite, Aquino said: “I was not consulted pero we support the move of the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government). But to clarify, it did not come from the PDEA alone.”
“Parang nasisingle-out kasi yung PDEA,” he added.
The anti-narcotics agency chief said the list was revalidated not just by the PDEA but by an inter-agency task force as well.
On Thursday, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) took away the power of 23 mayors and a governor over the local police for their alleged connection with the illegal drug trade.
DILG Undersecretary Catalino Cuy said this means the officials could no longer give orders to police in their localities and would no longer be given security detail.
“The list was only forwarded to us by PDEA wala kaming dinagdag,” Cuy earlier said.
Aquino said the PDEA was the secretariat of the anti-drug inter-agency task force, which consists of the PDEA, Philippine National Police (PNP) Directorate for Intelligence, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA). /kga