Duterte: Leni’s brod-in-law brought drugs to Bicol

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday accused the brother-in-law of Vice President Leni Robredo of bringing the illegal drug trade to Bicol.

Duterte did not name the Robredo relative but former Naga City councilor Luis Ortega had claimed that Butch Robredo, a brother of the late former Naga mayor and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, had links to illegal drugs.

The vice president is Jesse's widow.

Malacañang has since called a probe into Butch Robredo's alleged drug ties.

"I stand by my word na [Naga] the hotbed of [shabu], brother-in-law niya ang nagdala ng drugs sa Bicol. Totoo yan. Syempre denial," Duterte said in a speech in Mandaue City.

The President made the remark as he belittled anew Leni's leadership capability, saying she could not "hack" the problems of illegal drugs and corruption.

"If I stop now my crusade against drugs and if there is no order in this place, Philippines, and corruption will continue, patay. I said you're better off choosing a dictator in the likes of Marcos. That is what I suggested," Duterte said.

Duterte had said he preferred a military junta or the likes of Senator Francis Escudero and former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to replace him instead of Leni.

Malacañang earlier said Duterte might step down from the presidency if Marcos won his electoral protest against Leni.

Lies

Robredo's legal adviser Barry Gutierrez described Duterte's accusations as lies.

"Ang kasinungalingan, ulit-ulitin man, kasinungalingan pa rin. Kaysa magparatang nang walang basehan, kung seryoso si Duterte sa droga: imbestigahan niya ang pagpasok ng ?6.8-B na shabu; hulihin niya si Peter Lim; pagtrabahuhin ang mga PNP generals kaysa magjunket sa Israel," he said.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde has said that Naga City could not be considered as a hotbed of drugs as Duterte claimed.

“Meron talaga (pero) not necessarily siya ang pinaka hot pero meron talaga,” Albayalde said in an interview with CNN-Philippines.

“When you say hotbed parang source kasi talaga ‘yan. I really don't know where the President got his information on that,” he said.

At a press conference in Camp Crame, however, Albayalde said that Naga City consistently ranked fifth among the major cities in the country in terms of crime volume in the first semester of the last two years.

“Based on PNP data that among the major cities of the country, Naga City has consistently ranked No. 5 in terms of crime volume in the 1st semester of 2017 and 2018,” Albayalde told reporters.

PNP corrects self on Naga crime

The PNP, however, corrected Albayalde's pronouncement on Naga City's standing in terms of crime volume.

"My sincere apology to this oversight, and whatever inconvenience it may have caused," PNP spokesperson Senior Superintendent Benigno Durana said in a statement sent to GMA News Online on Sunday.

Data from the PNP showed that the Naga actually placed 16th out of the 36 major cities in the agency's ranking.

If the cities in Metro Manila were taken out of the equation, Naga would place sixth overall out of the major cities nationwide.

"Based on the latest PNP data, among the major cities of the country outside of Metro Manila, Naga City is 6th (not 5th as earlier reported) in the total crime volume during the period from January to July 2018," Durana said.

‘Focus on me, spare Naga’

In an ambush interview with reporters at the House of Representatives, Robredo expressed disappointment over the inaccurate information from the PNP as regards its crime volume.

"Nakakalungkot na iyong PNP magbibigay ng mga statements na hindi naka-base sa totoong datos," Robredo said.

"Kasi kung ako yung puntirya, huwag nang idamay yung buong lungsod. Kasi yung Naga, hindi naman ako yun e," she added. —with Anna Felicia Bajo/NB/JST, GMA News