THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Monday, January 29, 2024, that access to its National Drug Information System (NDIS) is “very strict and limited” amid claims of former President Rodrigo Duterte that the agency showed him a list of drug personalities that include President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. when he was still a mayor of Davao City.
In a press conference, PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said in the case of local chief executives and law enforcement personnel, only the list of persons involved in illegal drug trade in their area of jurisdiction can be shown to them.
“Depending on your level of authority, you shouldn't have access to something outside ‘yung sphere of influence mo. It's (NDIS) a highly secured document and it's a highly secured database, hindi yan dapat basta basta nakikita ng kung sino-sino (not anybody has access to it),” he added.
On Sunday evening, January 28, during a prayer rally held in Davao City to oppose the controversial people’s initiative (PI) for Charter change (cha-cha), Duterte tagged Marcos as “drug addict” and accused him of always being “bangag,” a local term used to describe someone who is high on drugs.
Duterte said that when he was a mayor of Davao City, the PDEA showed him a drug list, which includes Marcos.
Duterte served as mayor of Davao City from 1988 to 1998, 2001 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2016, before he was elected as president of the Republic.
The PDEA already denied Duterte’s claims, saying that Marcos was not and was never on their list of individuals involved in illegal drugs.
Carreon said the NDIS, which was created in 2002, contains the names of all individuals in the country who are verified to be involved in the illegal drugs.
He said once the name of a person involved in drugs was placed in the NDIS, it can never be removed.
“Opo (hindi mawawala) because ang mangyayari doon marereflect ang status mo either you’re at large or if your serving time (in jail) but it’s there. If the name was there before, it will always be there,” said Carreon.
Carreon assured that even if the PDEA is under the Office of the President, they remain loyal to their mandate to uphold the rule of law.
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief of the Public Information Office (PIO) Colonel Jean Fajardo said in a press conference that they have not seen any drug list that includes Marcos.
“On the part of the PNP, we have not seen any document or list na nandoon ang pangalan ng ating Presidente (where the name of the President was included),” she said. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
