PDEA releases validated barangay narco list

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino on Monday released to the public the list of barangay chairpersons and councilmen allegedly involved in illegal drugs.

In a press conference, Aquino said at the names of the 207 barangay officials on the list were validated by four agencies, including the Philippine National Police (PNP).

He said the PDEA is already in the process of preparing criminal charges against the 207 barangay officials.

Included in the list are 90 barangay chairpersons and 117 members of barangay councils in Bicol, the Cordillera Administrative Region and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

He said one barangay official on the list is a suspected drug lord while the others are eighter users or street-level pushers.

Aquino also said that there wre a total of 293 names on the initial list. It went down to 207 because 86 have either died of have been arrested.

Aquino said they also have a list of 93 mayors and governors allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

In the same press conference, the PDEA chief assured the public that authorities will not use the list to hunt down and execute the barangay officials.

"There's no truth that this will serve as a hit list," Aquino said. "We want to be legitimate in our operations, we want our operations to be transparent." —ALG, GMA News