Senators hit PDEA’s disclosure of barangay execs on narco list

Three senators on Tuesday opposed the release to the public of the list of barangay chairpersons and councilmen allegedly involved in illegal drugs.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former Philippine National Police chief, said only sufficient evidence that merits the filing of a criminal case can validate an intelligence report.

“In fact, the purpose an intelligence report is to discreetly build up a case against the subject of such report, not forewarn or publicly humiliate him,” Lacson told GMA News Online.

In releasing the narco list on Monday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino admitted that more pieces of evidence were needed before criminal complaints could be filed against the barangay officials on the list.

"The validation is not enough. Hindi kasi pwedeng barabara ang pagfi-file ng kaso. Otherwise, madi-dismiss yung kaso. We need to make sure that the case is airtight; kumbaga, lahat ng ebidensya andun na," Aquino said.

Senator Gregorio Honasan II said he objected to the premature release not only of the narco list but any list “because of our historical propensity to try and convict institutions, groups, and personalities by publicity, at the expense of due process and the rule of law.”

“This is not to mention violation of rights to life, liberty, property, and honor. If warranted by strong evidence, file appropriate charges expeditiously,” Honasan said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the release of the barangay drug list would surely vilify the 207 alleged narco-politicians in the court of public opinion.

“What we actually need to cleanse drug-infested barangays is for guilty verdicts to be handed down against proven narco-pols in the courts of law,” Gatchalian said.

He said the Department of Interior and Local Government should make good its promise to immediately file administrative and criminal complaints against the barangay officials on the drug list.

“We’ve waited in vain for almost two years for the DILG to act on its promise to file cases against alleged narco-pols,” Gatchalian said. —NB, GMA News