More names of officials to be included in barangay ‘narco-list’ — PDEA chief

More barangay officials are expected to be included in President Rodrigo Duterte’s “narco-list” as Malacañang submitted additional names late Wednesday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino said today, April 26. (PNA photo by Joey Razon)

More barangay officials are expected to be included in President Rodrigo Duterte’s “narco-list” as Malacañang submitted additional names late Wednesday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino said today, April 26.

“Kahapon pala may pinahabol pa ang Malacañang na listahan so I guess itong 211 na ida-divulge ko ay baka madagdagan pa po (Yesterday Malacañang asked me to add more names on the list so I guess this 211 which I will divulge may increase),” Aquino told GMA News’ Unang Balita.

According to Aquino, the list that the Palace submitted to the PDEA had already been validated.

“Meron naman po sa remarks doon (remarks there have), particular drug personality is nakalagay po doon (stated there) is verified or subject for further validation,” the PDEA Chief explained, adding that the agency will not reveal the names of those village officials who are “subject for further validation.”

“Definitely hindi ko idi-divulge pa po yung mga pangalan na ‘yon, including doon yung 274 watchlist ng PDEA na subject for further validation po lahat. So ang ipapublish ko lang po yung validated and confirmed na [ang] drug involvement nila (I won’t divulge those names including those 274 in the watchlist of PDEA who are subject for further validation. So, I would only publish those names whose drug involvement have been already validated and confirmed),” he added.

The list of 211 barangay officials linked to illegal drug trade, Aquino said, are composed of drug users, pushers, and protectors. Among the 211 names on the list, 89 are barangay chairpersons, while the remaining are barangay kagawads.

While the National Capital Region (NCR) has “less than 15” barangay officials included in the list, the Bicol Region obtains the highest rate of village executives involved.

“Hihimay-himayin ko pa ‘yun kasi kung magbigay kasi sila isang libro eh, so kung titingnan ko pa kung ano yung naidagdag pa don, siguro less than 10 ang naidagdag siguro (I will still sort it out because they gave me a list amounting to one book, so if I would look how many were added, I think it was less than 10),” Aquino noted.

The PDEA chief yesterday said he will bare the list within the week, but with the names to be added to it, Aquino stressed he would instead reveal it next week either by Monday or Tuesday.

This announcement came just a few weeks before the May 14 barangay elections. However, the agency’s chief said he is not sure whether those officials on the list have filed their Certificate of Candidacy (COC).