Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño claimed that more than 50 percent of the personalities in the barangay “narco list” are running in the May 14 polls.
Diño, undersecretary for Barangay Affairs, brought this up at a press briefing in Camp Crame on Thursday, four days before the Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections on Monday.
Some 207 barangay officials — 90 of whom are barangay chairpersons and 117 are councilors — are reportedly on the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)’s recent list of alleged drug peddlers.
The list, however, was criticized for supposed inaccuracies.
READ: Names of barangay execs in Duterte’s drug list out ‘within the week’ – PDEA
Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier criticized the release of the names of the suspected drug peddlers, calling the move “dumb and cruel.”
READ: Lacson on PDEA’s narco-list: ‘Dumb and Cruel’
However, PDEA maintained that the list was verified by the Philippine National Police and the National Intelligence Coordination Agency.
Diño claimed that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will actively pursue those on the narco list even if they win in the elections.
He said this is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to rid communities of illegal drugs. /vvp