PDEA names 207 barangay execs on drug list

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino shows the Narcolist on barangay officials during a press briefing at the PDEA building in Quezon City on April 30, 2018. INQUIRER.NET / NOY MORCOSO

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has released the names of barangay (village) executives allegedly involved in illegal drugs.

PDEA chief Dir. Gen. Aaron Aquino on Monday said the list included 207 names of barangay officials: 90 barangay chairmen and 117 kagawads (councilors).

Aquino said the regions with the most number of officials involved in illegal drugs were from Bicol with 70 executives; Caraga with 34; and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with 13.

He dismissed claims that the release of the names would lead to a witch hunt against those on the list, stressing that the list was validated by the PDEA, the Philippine National Police, the National Intelligence Coordination Agency, and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

“This was validated on the ground. There is no truth that this will serve as hitlist. It will not,” Aquino said in a press conference at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City.

“The PNP will make assurance to the public that these people should be given protection that no one will harm them,” he added.

He also noted that it was a direct order from President Rodrigo Duterte to publicize the list.

Aquino said cases would need to be built up against the suspects, noting that validation by intelligence agencies based on intelligence reports was “not enough” for cases to be filed in court.

“Validation is not enough. Hindi pwedeng bara-bara, otherwise madidismiss lang yung kaso,” Aquino said.

(Validation is not enough. You can’t sloppily file a case, otherwise it will be dismissed.)

“We need to make sure that the case is airtight, kumbaga lahat ng ebidensiya andun na,” he added.

Aquino explained that the process of validation was a mere confirmation by law enforcement agencies that the officials were involved in illegal drugs. They would need more evidence to prosecute them.

“It doesn’t mean na andun na lahat ang ebidensya. Kaya nga magke-case build up ka to add doon sa pagfa-file ng kaso,” he said.

(It doesn’t mean that all the evidence is there. That’s why you need to build up the case to supplement the case to be filed.)

The PDEA and other law enforcement agencies are still validating the drug involvement of 274 more barangay officials, Aquino said. The officials would be identified once the validation is completed, he added. /cbb

READ: PDEA set to release barangay drug list Monday