Duterte threatens top 'drug lords': You will die

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte continued Thursday his shame campaign against people with alleged links to the narcotics trade as he revealed the names of drug lords behind huge syndicates as well as the retired police general supposedly protecting them.

 

Duterte said two of the drug lords are already behind bars but are still directing the operations of their respective groups.

 

He identified them as Wu Tuan alias “Peter Co,” a drug triad member operating in Luzon and Metro Manila, and Herbert Colangco alias “Ampang,” who reportedly has links with the Parojinog drug syndicate and Kuratong Baleleng gang. Both of them are detained at the New Bilibid Prison.

 

“Talagang binabastos tayo… (They are really disrespecting us). They are destroying the country. They are destroying the youth of the land. My appeal to them, since they are beyond redemption, they can stop and commit suicide because I will not allow these idiots to run their show. Not during my watch,” Duterte said.

 

“Peter Co do not escape from prison. You will die. Colangco never try to go out of prison. You will die,” he added.

 

Duterte also cited a certain Peter Lim alias Jaguar, allegedly a member of a drug triad in Visayas. Lim remains at large and reportedly goes in and out of the country.

 

“If he has friends here, tell him, the moment he lands at NAIA, he will die,” the president said.  

 

“Better tell him not to come back to the Philippines anymore. The moment he steps out of the plane, he will die. That is my assurance to the people of the Philippines. How? It doesn’t matter,” he added.

 

Duterte said all the three drug lords are from mainland China.

 

He said retired Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo Jr. served as “protector” and “associate” of the drug lords.

 

“The DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) will take care of him,” Duterte said.

 

He also said other Chinese nationals and officials of the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and local executives are in cahoots with the drug lords and are now considered “persons of interests.”

 

Duterte also showed what appeared to be white cartolina with a flow chart of persons involved in the narcotics trade. He said he is still gathering information about the extent of the involvement of these individuals, many of whom are mayors.

 

“I was asking for more dossier and I have to read the documents and reports from the intelligence gathering of the different branches. This is a mixed of Chinese, mayors, many of them are mayors," he said.  

 

“The other personalities in this matrix are persons of interest. Will they also die? I do not know.”

 

Solicitor General Jose Calida said the drug lords mentioned by Duterte belong to “level 5” or the top tier of the drug hierarchy.  He said the five levels of drug syndicates are grouped according to the capability to sell and quantity of drugs sold.

 

Calida said the other generals mentioned by Duterte last Tuesday belong to the lower levels of the drug tier. They were retired police general and newly elected Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot, former National Capital Region Police Office head Chief Superintendent Joel Pagdilao, former Quezon City Police District director Chief Superintendent Edgardo Tinio and  Western Visayas regional director Chief Superintendent Bernardo Diaz.

 

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said they would step up measures to prevent jailed drug lords from conducting transactions. He said about 75 percent of drug trade all over the country are being cooked or transacted inside the New Bilibid Prison.

 

Aguirre said they might let the drug lords remain inside Building 14, which once housed the electric chair chamber or move them to Tanay Rizal or the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo.

 

“In the long run, we are also contemplating of even transferring them to Caballo Island or an island in Palawan where there are no cellphone signals,” Aguirre said.

 

“Without cellphones, no transaction can be done inside Bilibid prisons by the drug lords,” he added. — with Lorenzo Acuña