DILG warned on release of ‘narco’ list
Senators on Sunday warned anew the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) against its plan to release the list of supposed narcopoliticians amid the campaigns for the May midterm elections.
Senator Richard Gordon said the DILG would place itself in hot water should it continue with its plan to make public its narco list.
"If they release that they are liable for libel," Gordon, a lawyer, said in an interview over DzBB.
While noting that he understood the administration's eagerness to crack down on narco-politicians, Gordon believed that the DILG should file charges against the officials if they have evidence proving their involvement in illegal drugs.
Since it has authority over local government officials, the DILG, he added, could declare narco-politicians as "notoriously undesirable" to suspend or bar them from holding public office.
He said the announcement will only help those who have links to drugs to lie low, or even dismiss
the claim as politicking.
"The issue here is that you are accusing somebody without due process of law... We want (a) level playing field. We should be fair, we are in a democracy," Gordon said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, for his part, maintained that the narco list should be used only for intelligence gathering and not to sway the voting public.
Like Gordon, he said the DILG should instead file cases against narcopoliticians.
"Until backed by evidence, a narco list remains unvalidated and should be used only for intelligence purposes in order to assist law enforcement in pursuing their case buildup with the end in view of filing appropriate criminal charges against those in the list," the former police chief said in a text message to reporters.
"Making it public is unjust and unfair to those who may be delisted later, worse after the May elections. This has happened before and it could happen again," Lacson said.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año on Saturday said they would release the narco list this month before the campaign period for local candidates on March 30.
The narco list includes the names of mayors, vice mayors, governors, vice governors, and even congressmen, he had said.
Amid concerns, Año maintained that they have been validating the list and would not involve innocent public officials. He added that they would seek President Duterte's instructions before its release.
President Duterte, last month, expressed his support for the planned release of the narco list.
No need to worry
Filipinos need not worry about their safety if they are not involved in the narcotics trade, Malacañang said Sunday amid the government’s war on drugs.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the assurance after a survey showed majority of Filipinos said they were worried they might become victims of extrajudicial killings (EJK).
"Alam mo 'yung mga nangangamba hindi ano yun, hindi kataka-taka dahil may mga namamatay sa mga drug buybust operation. Pero kung hindi naman sila involved, wala silang dapat na ikabahala (You know it's not surprising that they are worried because some people are killed in drug buy-buy operations. But if they are not involved, they have nothing to worry about)," Panelo said in a radio interview.
In the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted last December, 78 percent of the 1,440 respondents were worried that they or anyone they know could become a victim of EJK. This was higher than the 73 percent recorded in June 2017.
The December poll showed 22 percent said they were not worried, compared to 27 percent in June 2017.
The same survey indicated that 71 percent believed the government was serious about solving the EJK, compared to 63 percent in June 2017.
In his remarks on Sunday, Panelo said the government's campaign against illegal drugs has been "successful" so far, citing the arrest of many drug offenders and dismantling of drug laboratories.
The Palace official took pride that the government's gains in the drug war were not attained by the previous administration.