CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Phililippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Region 10 (PDEA-10) has identified 22 more village officials in Northern Mindanao on its “narco-list”.
The names were added to the 11 barangay executives who have already been name-checked by the government as candidates in the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), said PDEA-10 Regional Director Wilkins Villanueva.
Three of the 11 barangay officials in the initial list came from Iligan City, one from Misamis Occidental, and seven from Misamis Ozamiz City.
In the new list, the 22 officials come from all the provinces in the region: Misamis Oriental, four; Cagayan de Oro, three; Bukidnon, eight; Lanao del Norte, five; Camiguin, one; Misamis Occidental, one.
Villanueva said most of the additional names in the agency’s narco-list are incumbent officials. The additional names, however, are not yet on Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s list.
He said they will submit the 22 names to the PDEA national headquarters.
The narco-list is a document containing the names of local government officials and other personalities who have alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade, either as protectors or dealers.
The list will also include local officials who may not be involved in the proliferation of illicit drugs in their communities, but are not cooperating with the PDEA and other concerned agencies in the implementation of the government’s anti-drug campaign.
Villanueva has warned barangay leaders to coordinate with the government in its anti-drug campaign, lest appropriate legal action will be taken against them.
“There are barangay officials who are clean, they are not protectors, they don’t sell [shabu], and yet they are not doing anything. We have the [anti-drug] program, but they are not cooperating. We will be filing dereliction of duty against you,” the PDEA-10 chief said.
To date, PDEA-10 has declared 171 barangays in the region as drug-free, out of the 2,022 barangays. (Jigger J. Jerusalem/PNA)
