{"id":199668,"date":"2019-01-28T06:06:14","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T11:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=199668"},"modified":"2019-01-28T06:06:14","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T11:06:14","slug":"prrd-still-trusts-lapena-despite-nbi-drug-raps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/01\/28\/prrd-still-trusts-lapena-despite-nbi-drug-raps\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD still trusts Lape\u00f1a despite NBI drug raps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte shares a light moment with the guests during the Joint 68th National Security Council and 69th National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Founding Anniversary Celebration at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on July 31, 2018. KARL NORMAN ALONZO\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Isidro Lape\u00f1a continues to enjoy the trust of President Rodrigo R. Duterte even as he faces charges filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) over the smuggling of shabu, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Monday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that Lape\u00f1a, who is now Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general, is \u201cpresumed to be innocent\u201d while the case is ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes, he remains constitutionally presumed to be innocent,\u201d Panelo said in a Palace briefing, emphasizing that the President \u201cknows him personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he (Duterte) knows him personally. He has worked with him, and he trusts him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

It may be recalled that Lape\u00f1a served as Davao City police chief when Duterte was still mayor of the city.<\/p>\n

Panelo, however, said that while the President trusts Lape\u00f1a, the results of the NBI investigation will also be considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the President is concerned, he trusts him. But if the evidence proved otherwise, then it will be a different story,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Asked if the Palace believed that the charges against Lape\u00f1a will be dropped, Panelo said the Executive Branch is banking on and will not interfere with the decision of the courts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for the courts to decide whether the charges are substantiated by proof beyond a reasonable doubt,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, said that the President has not expressed any plans to dismiss Lape\u00f1a from his current post as TESDA director general amid the drug raps.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone that I know of,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Lape\u00f1a is facing two drug-related complaints — the PHP11-billion worth of shabu at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and PHP2.4 billion worth of shabu in magnetic lifters found in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Isidro Lape\u00f1a continues to enjoy the trust of President Rodrigo R. Duterte even …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":174352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}