{"id":205164,"date":"2019-03-04T23:15:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T04:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=205164"},"modified":"2019-03-04T23:15:21","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T04:15:21","slug":"releasing-narco-list-has-more-pros-than-cons-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/03\/04\/releasing-narco-list-has-more-pros-than-cons-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Releasing narco-list has more pros than cons: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark acknowledging concerns expressed by lawmakers that releasing a narco-list violates the presumption of innocence of candidates seeking public office. (File Photo<\/a>: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday defended anew the move to release a list of politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade, noting that its release has more pros than cons.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark acknowledging concerns expressed by lawmakers that releasing a narco-list violates the presumption of innocence of candidates seeking public office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell-meaning personalities have expressed concern that releasing the narco list is a violation of due process as the persons listed therein will be painted in public as evil doers without them being afforded to refute the accusation,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

However, he emphasized that part of the risk of running for a seat in public office is being exposed to public scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Panelo pointed out that the Constitution itself recognizes the right of the people to information on matters of public concern, especially when this affects their lives and welfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evil sought to be avoided by its release is much much greater than the perceived violation of an individual\u2019s right, which the law allows a vindication and compensation,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn balancing the interests between those of the individual candidates, who took the risk of being exposed by running for a public office, and that of the nation, unquestionably the country\u2019s interests prevail,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo reiterated the people’s right to know who these narco-politicians are so they could make more responsible choices when casting their vote during the elections in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public and the voters have the right to know who these destroyers of society are who have placed all of us to the brink,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey cannot — and must not — be given the authority to rule and govern for they will only hasten the destruction of our country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

National security concern<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, described the country as being \u201cin a state of narco-politics,” noting that the government is \u201cduty bound\u201d to undertake measures to prevent the proliferation of illegal drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of barangays have been contaminated. There is no doubt that we are now in a state of narco-politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe matter of illegal drugs is a matter of national security given that its continued proliferation, despite the government\u2019s success in containing it by the relentless police operations against it, has put in peril not only the basic unit of our society, which is the family, but the local government units as well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He said that if those involved in the illegal drug trade will be running the local governments, public safety will be endangered.<\/p>\n

He also reiterated that the narco-list has been validated by law enforcement agencies after investigation and surveillance using modern technology and sourcing credible information from those who have been previously arrested and prosecuted.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Panelo said that politicians who have been wrongly accused always have the option to avail of judicial remedies to clear their names.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fear that it may destroy the presumption of innocence, to my mind there is a judicial remedy for that: If you feel that you\u2019ve been libeled, you can always go to the courts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday defended anew the move to release a list of politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drug …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":187138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205164","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\/205164","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=205164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}