INCUMBENT barangay officials who are on the list of officials involved in the illegal drug trade will face drug charges.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 Director Emerson Margate said they have monitored the names on the list and assured that they have been validating for two years, or since President Rodrigo Duterte took office.
“Those names on the list were given to the regional offices by the national headquarters for proper validation before these were again submitted there. These were not only validated in the regional level but also in the national level,” Margate said.
He said they await the final list of officials in Central Visayas who are among the 289 names of barangay officials allegedly involved in illegal drugs nationwide.
“We need coordination with other agencies like the Department of Interior and Local Government because these are elected officials and if there are administrative cases that we’re looking into like for example, they have anti-drug abuse council that are not functional,” Margate said.
Last Wednesday, Duterte gave PDEA the go-signal to reveal the names of barangay official with drug links.
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino will do so on April 30.
Meanwhile, Margate said they’ve asked the Commission on Elections to check who among non-incumbent candidates have drug links. (JOB)