PDEA delisting names in Duterte’s narco list

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is finalizing the “delisting” process for persons included in President Duterte’s long list of drug suspects.

PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said the agency is preparing an adjudication board that will settle the removal of persons from the President’s “narco list.”

Duterte’s list has doubled to over 6,000 suspects from around 3,000 names initially.

The adjudication process would validate if the suspects are really involved in the illegal drug trade and what function they serve in the trade.

If a person is proven to be involved in illegal drug trading, charges will be filed. But if the person is proven to have no involvement in the trade, the person will be delisted from the narco list.

Aquino clarified that it is still the President who will decide who will be removed from his narco list. 

“We will just revalidate and from there, it will undergo an adjudication process, which will determine if a person will be delisted or not. Now who will approve that? The only person who can delist is the President,” the PDEA chief explained.

Aquino said the PDEA is coordinating with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, among others, for the adjudication process.

The Inter-Agency Committee on Illegal Drugs has recommended the preparation of the adjudication process to validate all information in the narco list.