De Lima urges Acierto to bare details of his drug links report

Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday urged dismissed police officer Eduardo Acierto to make public his intelligence report on the alleged links of several personalities in the illegal drug trade.

Acierto’s report, according to De Lima, should be made available for public scrutiny and validation.

“The intel report of Acierto, if publicized and verified, will raise questions as to Duterte’s real involvement in the drug trade in the country,” she said.

Acierto submitted the report to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Philippine National Police (PNP), Senator Richard Gordon and other officials from Malacañang in 2017, but, according to him, no actions were done.

The report supposedly included former presidential adviser Michael Yang as an alleged ‘drug lord’ in Davao City and Cagayan De Oro.

“Kung malinis talaga si Mr. Duterte, bakit naduduwag siyang paimbestigahan si Yang at ang kasabwat nito? Nakikinabang ba siya sa ‘drug business’ o siya ba ang totoong mastermind?” she said.

Acierto believed the inclusion of Yang in the report was the reason he got dragged into the P11-billion shabu smuggling through magnetic lifters in 2018.

De Lima, who is currently detained at Camp Crame over her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade in New Bilibid Prison, challenged Duterte to order an investigation into Yang.

“Kung galit ka talaga sa ilegal na droga at sa drug users at pushers, patunayan mo yan ngayon Mr. Duterte, at paimbestigahan si Yang. Hindi yung puro mahihirap at walang kalaban-laban ang pinagdidiskitahan mo,” she said.

PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said the name Michael Yang never came up in any drug operation in Davao City, contradicting the report of Acierto.

Duterte's spokesman, Salvador Panelo, has already cleared Yang's name, saying he was not involved in the illegal drug trade.

De Lima has filed Senate Resolution No. 922 to call for a Senate probe into Yang’s appointment as president’s economic adviser and determine the extent of his official engagement under the Duterte administration. — Joviland Rita/MDM, GMA News