MALACAÑANG on Friday blasted the opposition Liberal Party (LP) for accusing the Duterte administration of exhausting efforts to "demonize" the party, saying the LP was merely "afraid of its own ghost."
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, in a statement, denied that administration was behind the testimony of self-confessed bagman Ricky Serenio that Senator Franklin Drilon and former Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II were involved in illicit drugs sale.
"The administration has nothing to do with the testimony of a drug cartel bagman Mr. Ricky Serenio, implicating Senator Franklin Drilon and former Secretary Mar Roxas to the illegal drug trade in the Visayas," Abella, through his assistant China Jocson, said.
"The Liberal Party is afraid of its own ghost after conducting several witch-hunt investigations against their perceived political enemies when they were in power," the presidential spokesman added.
Serenio, the alleged bagman of Berya drug cartel in Negros, earlier claimed that Drilon and Roxas, who are both from Western Visayas, were the protectors of slain drug dealer Melvin Odicta Sr.
Odicta and his wife were shot to death on August 9, 2016 at the Caticlan Jetty Port in Aklan.
On Wednesday, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the Department of Justice (DOJ) will conduct an investigation against Drilon and Roxas based on the affidavit of Serenios.
The LP, in response to DOJ's plan, said the latest move was part of the administration's "all-out attempt to demonize" the party, in an effort to "divert attention from pressing issues" hounding the country.
The opposition party also called out the government to devote more time investigating the illegal shipment of P6.4-billion worth of shabu that slipped past the Bureau of Customs.
"Instead of swallowing the words of the so-called bagman and wasting the time on this new controversy, the administration can better use its time investigating and finding the culprits behind the entry of P6.4-billion worth of shabu that has slipped past the scrutiny of Customs officials," it said in a statement. (SunStar Philippines)