TWO mayors from Iloilo who were once included in President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of “narcopoliticians” took their oaths as new members of PDP-Laban, the majority party where Duterte belongs, Malacañang said Monday.
Alex Centena of Calinog and Mariano Malones of Maasin were among the “narcopoliticians” previously tagged by Duterte but who had been cleared by the police, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.
“We will not knowingly allow any drug lord to join the administration party,” Roque told reporters.
“I think they were cleared by the police agencies because it is the police agencies that provided the drug list.”
Roque made his statement even as a report said the government’s drive against illegal drugs netted more than 119,000 suspected drug pushers and addicts while nearly 4,000 drug suspects were killed since Duterte declared an all-out war against illegal drugs.
The consolidated report from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Customs said a total of 81,919 anti-drug operations had been conducted, 119,361 drug users or pushers were arrested, and 3,987 drug users or pushers died during the anti-drug operations.
PDEA spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon said the drive against illegal drugs resulted in the confiscation of 2,577.05 kilograms of methamphetamine or shabu with a street value of P13.24 billion, an increase of P114.16 million from the previous period last month.
“Also, we have confiscated dangerous drugs, controlled precursors, essential chemicals and laboratory equipment worth 19.34 billion pesos, which is an increase of P222.5 million compared to the previous period,” Carreon said.
Centena and Malones transferred to PDP-Laban in a mass oathtaking ceremony last week.
It was Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. who told PDP-Laban secretary-general and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez that Centena and Malones wanted to join the ruling party.
Defensor said he got clearance from Alvarez that both Centena and Malones could join the ruling party despite being tagged as “narcopoliticians.”
