Palace: Duterte drug list not from FVR

MANILA, Philippines - Former president Fidel Ramos is not the source of the drug list made public by President Duterte.

Presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza issued a statement yesterday denying Ramos was the source of the list containing the names of top personalities involved in the illegal drug trade.

“To say that the source of the narcotics list came from president Ramos is a total fabrication – President Duterte,” the statement read.

Dureza said Duterte wanted to clarify that Ramos was not the source of his drug list, adding that the former president only prodded him several times before the campaign period to seek the presidency.

In a previous release from Malacañang, Duterte was quoted as saying Ramos went to visit him in Davao City three times.

Duterte said during the first visit, Ramos only asked him to run for president but did not show him anything.

It was on the second visit, Duterte added, that Ramos “showed” him a list.

“The second time, he (Ramos) was strongly urging me to run. He said ‘it’s only you who can stop this.’ Then he showed me a list of (statement is unfinished)… it contained names of generals and policemen about this thick,” Duterte said in the previous release.

Dureza said Duterte categorically denied media reports claiming that Ramos was the original source of the drug list.

He added Duterte clarified on several occasions that the former president had only urged him to run for the presidency and face the challenge of eliminating the scourge of illegal drugs.

The previous release also did not say that Ramos “gave” the drug list but only quoted Duterte saying he was shown the list. 

More than 2,000 people have been killed in Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. Some of the deaths occurred during police operations, where the victims reportedly opted to fight, while others were the result of vigilante-type killings.