DILG Usec Diño justifies order asking all barangays to submit drug list

Newly-appointed Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño (left). (Photo: DILG Undersecretary Martin “Bobot” Diño/Facebook)

The newly-appointed Interior Undersecretary, Martin Diño, on Thursday justified his directive to all barangay (village) officials asking them to submit a list of suspected drug pushers and criminals in their respective areas.

In an interview on Unang Balita, Diño stressed that the list will go through a strict verification process amid misgivings from human rights advocates.

“Hindi lamang pagbabasehan natin ang report ng barangay. Meron din tayong mga report galing sa NGO [nongovernment organization], meron tayong report galing sa ating simbahan, meron tayong report kaya iko-compare natin sa DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] (We will not only base our reports to the village. We also have reports coming from NGO, we have reports from our church, we have reports that’s why we will compare it with DILG),” the DILG undersecretary said.

“Ang maganda dito alam natin na ako bilang naging barangay captain, nasabi ko nga barangay captain ang pinakatsismosong tao sa Pilipinas dahil kung hindi mo alam ang nangyayari sa barangay mo, eh wala kang kwentang barangay captain (What’s good in here is that we know that I, as a former village captain, like what I’ve said, the village captain is the most gossipmonger in the Philippines because if you don’t know what’s happening in your village, then you’re a worthless village captain),” he added.

Lawyer Gilbert Andres, member of the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), decried the “unconstitutionality” of Diño’s directive to barangay officials, saying that this list could serve as a basis for arresting or killing those placed on it.

“Ito yung nakakabagabag, kasi ‘yung presumption of innocence ay malamang nalalabag ng listahang ito (This is alarming, because the presumption of innocence is likely to be violated by this list),” Andres said in an interview on Balitanghali.

Diño, however, made sure that there will be no cases of mistaken identity on the list of drug personalities as there will be checks and balances.

He also shared that during his time as a former barangay captain in Quezon City, he had also included his brother and other relatives on the watchlist.

“Kasi kung talagang gusto mo na maayos ang iyong barangay eh wala kang sisino-hin. Kita mo, ako napagbago ko ang aking kapatid at ngayon kagawad. Ibig sabihin may pag-asa na i-rehab natin (Because if you really want your village to be better, you wouldn’t spare anyone. You see, I was able to change my brother who is now a village councilor. This means that there’s a hope if we rehabilitate),” Diño said.

“Kaya’t ako naniniwala din ako na ‘yung isang milyon na surrenderee, kung walang mapaglagyan ang national government, pwede naming gawin sa barangay ‘yan. Meron tayong rehabilitation na gagawin mismo sa barangay (That’s why I believe that these one-million surrenderees, if the national government doesn’t have a place for them, we can do it in the village. We have rehabilitation to conduct in the village),” he added.

Diño was officially appointed as interior undersecretary on January 8.

During the turnover ceremony, Diño assured that all the barangays all over the country will step up their involvement in the government’s massive campaign against illegal drugs.