‘NBI, PNP, PDEA fighting over narco list’

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Government agencies tasked to validate the list of officials linked to illegal drug activities are engaged in a turf war, according to President Duterte.

This is the reason for the delay in releasing the list, he said.

“I may be wrong or I may be right. The problem is the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), the Philippine National Police and the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) seem to be fighting each other,” Duterte told a national gathering of policewomen here over the weekend.

Duterte stressed he could not release the list yet as it is still undergoing revalidation.

He cited the need for a thorough revalidation of the list that is said to contain more than 1,000 names, including policemen, judges and local officials.

Duterte said he ordered a revalidation of the list several times, passing through the NBI, the PDEA, the PNP with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) making the last check.

The President said he does not want a repeat of what happened to the case of former Pangasinan governor and now Rep. Amado Espino, who was mistakenly included in a supposed drug matrix of the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.

Duterte also apologized to Pangasinan provincial board member Raul Sison and former provincial administrator Rafael Baraan for linking them to the illegal drug trade.

On the latest narco-list, Duterte explained the list was initially thick but had thinned down after a series of revalidation.

“It was this thick,” Duterte said, gesturing with his fingers how thick the supposed list was.

“I have ordered the concerned agencies to revalidate them all,” he said.

He said that he himself had to look meticulously on how a person was linked to the illegal drug trade.

“And I told them (agencies) I will not go into this challenge if I am not sure because if I name you publicly, it would stain your life forever,” he said.

Duterte said the list was further trimmed down to include several policemen, barangay officials, mayors, two congressmen and judges.

“That’s the problem,” he said.

Duterte on Friday revealed the existence of the third narco-list but only mentioned Agusan del Sur regional trial court Judge Hector Salise, who was recently ambushed.

Duterte said Salise was into fixing or bungling of drug cases.

Salise is still recuperating from bullet wounds in his head and shoulder. His family refused to give any reaction or statements.

Officials in Agusan del Sur said they were not aware that Salise was on the list. – With Ben Serrano