Video linking Paolo Duterte to drug trade ‘black propaganda’

“It’s obviously a black propaganda intended to besmirch and destroy PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) and his family,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement. (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Malacañang on Wednesday dismissed as “obvious” black propaganda a video linking presidential son and former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte to illegal drug trade.

“It’s obviously a black propaganda intended to besmirch and destroy PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) and his family,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

“But just like the other false narratives against the President, it will not succeed as the overwhelming majority of the Filipino people trust his sincerity and fidelity to his duty as President in serving and protecting the citizenry as well as believe in his incorruptibility,” he added.

Panelo said enemies and detractors of the President will always try to discredit him “but they are doomed to fail.”

“During the presidential campaign they threw the kitchen sink at him but the electorate responded by giving him a landslide vote. In the almost three years of his presidency they painted him criminal and evil but survey after survey the Filipino people gave him an excellent rating on trust and on  his unorthodox way of governance,” Panelo said.

The video, uploaded on YouTube on April, presented a claim that drug lords are allegedly using code names in the list.

The narrator in the video claimed that “Polo Delta” is the code name of Paolo Duterte because of the initials.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the son of President Rodrigo R. Duterte noted how absurd the allegation is against him.

He also hinted in his post that he knows the person behind the video.

“POLO DELTA – PAOLO DUTERTE? WOW ha kung makaimbento ka wagas (You are making unbelievable fabrications),” he said.

“Galit ka sa akin kasi ‘di kita pinansin sa eroplano kasi hambog ka! Ngayon pansinin na kita kasama ng kamay ko na kasing laki ng mukha mo pag nangyari ‘yan (You are mad at me because I ignored you inside the plane because you are arrogant! Now, I will make sure to pay attention to you with my hand as big as your face when that happens),” he added.

The video also tagged Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Waldo Carpio as a supposed “dummy” in the drug transactions.

“Galit ka kay Waldo kasi binabara niya lahat ng smuggling mong bigas at asukal di ba J. S. (You are mad at Waldo because he is foiling your smuggling of rice and sugar, right?),” the younger Duterte said.

Carpio is the brother of lawyer Manases Carpio, Paolo’s brother-in-law and husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.