MANILA, Philippines — There are now 96 narco politicians in President Duterte’s drug list from the original list that included 83 politicians, the head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said.
PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said three more politicians have been added to the narco list, which includes vice mayors, mayors, governors and congressmen.
The number of narco politicians has been increasing, from 86 in December to 93 in April, and the list now contains 96 names, whose involvement in illegal drugs is all verified, Aquino said.
City mayors account for the majority of narco politicians.
“Validated na lahat. Tapos na. Ang total ay 96 officials,” he told The STAR.
However, Aquino said that he is no longer keen on revealing the names of those in the narco list.
“Maraming complication when you reveal names. That happened, maraming naging problema, tulad sa barangay. I want to work silently, dito lalo sa mayors and congressmen,” he added.
The President had ordered the release of the names of 207 barangay officials in the drug list in time for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections last May.
Duterte himself revealed some of the names on the narco list, including slain mayors Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte; Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. of Ozamiz City and Antonio Halili of Tanauan City.
Aquino said the involvement of these mayors in illegal drugs could not be denied, especially that of Halili.
Halili had gone to the office of the PDEA chief about two months ago to clear his name of his alleged involvement in the drug trade.
“He was here in PDEA trying to clear his name. He knows exactly that he is in the narco list, alam na alam niya yun. Open na open ako kay mayor, sinabi ko na hindi ako makikipagplastikan sa iyo talagang positive ka sa listahan namin,” Aquino said in a separate interview with ABS-CBN News.
Aquino refuted Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s statement that Halili was not involved in the drug trade and said the mayor’s links had been validated by the four law enforcement agencies.
Halili’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs and his inclusion in the narco list did not necessarily mean he was killed over those motives, Aquino said.
He argued that mayors have many death threats, be it political motives, grudges or involvement in illegal drugs, and that it is now the Philippine National Police’s duty to find out the motive.
He denied that there has been a “pattern” of killing local executives bared on the narco list despite the fact that four named mayors have been killed, including Espinosa, Parojinog and Samsudin Dimaukom.
Aquino denied that the inclusion in the narco list is equivalent to a target or death list, but added that many local government officials have been trying to take their names out of the list.