Palace defends DILG's order to collect drug lists
MANILA, Philippines — Amid concerns stoked by the order to barangay officials to submit a list of drug traffickers, Malacañang on Thursday advised the public to just let the Department of Interior and Local Government do its mandate.
Newly-appointed DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño recently said he issued a directive to village officials to forward to him the list of drug personalities in their area as part of the government's controversial anti-narcotic campaign.
Non-compliant barangay officials would face "sanctions," Diño warned, putting a pressure on village executives to come up with a drug watch list.
Asked if Diño's order had been given a go-signal by the president, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the DILG was just doing its job.
Nonetheless, Roque stressed that the DILG must ensure that the names and cases in the lists must be verified and filed in courts.
"Well, ang pinapasumite lang naman po ay pangalan; at sigurado naman po akong magkakaroon ng imbestigasyon (Well, barangay officials were only asked to submit names; and I'm sure that there will be investigations)," Roque told GMA News TV's "News To Go."
"So wala pong mangyayari sa pagsusumite lamang ng pangalan, kinakailangan ihain muna sa hukuman ang mga kaso (So there won't be any submission of names without verification. Cases must be filed in courts)," he added.
How about 'presumption of innocence'?
In a separate interview with GMA News TV, lawyer Gilbert Andres of the Center for International Law expressed alarm over Diño's directive to barangay executives, saying such an order would violate a person's right to presumption of innocence.
Andres also said CenterLaw might take legal actions to counter Diño's "dangerous" instruction. CenterLaw is an organization Roque co-founded.
"Dapat po ‘wag tayong gumawa ng listahan kasi unang-una, estado yan eh, estado ang gumagawa ng listahan, at kung meron na pong labeling ang estado natin, delikado na po 'yan (The state should not make any lists because it would be dangerous if the government would start labeling its people)," Andres pointed out.
Responding to criticisms, Diño, citing his experience as a former barangay captain in Quezon City, justified his order.
"What's good about this is, as an ex-barangay captain, I can say that barangay captains work the rumor mill in the Philippines because if he has no idea about the happenings in his area, he is a useless barangay captain," the former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairperson said in Filipino.
- Latest
- Trending
