MANILA – Around 20 politicians are included in the next “narco-list” that will be released in the future, according to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) undersecretary Jonathan Malaya.
Malaya said the DILG is still validating the list before publicly releasing it. Criminal charges will be filed against those politicians included in it, he added.
“Tuloy-tuloy lang po ang validation natin. Tuloy lang po ang imbestigasyon, para naman makapagsampa tayo ng criminal charges,” Malaya said in an interview with DZBB AM radio.
He expressed confidence that the Office of the Ombudsman will give a favorable decision on their complaints against the 46 politicians in the narco-list that was revealed by President Rodrigo Duterte last Thursday.
“Sana panigan tayo ng Ombudsman dito,” Malaya said. “At the end of the day kasi nasa appreciation of evidence ‘yan. So sana makahanap ng enough probable cause ang ating Office of the Ombudsman.”
Duterte on Thursday evening released the narco-list to serve as guide for voters in the upcoming midterm polls. The politicians mentioned were already slapped with administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman.
From the 46 local officials mentioned, five were from Western Visayas – former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog (Iloilo City), mayors Salagunting Betita (Carles, Iloilo), Mariano Malones (Maasin, Iloilo) and Julius Pacificador (Hamtic, Antique) and Vice Mayor Ariel Alagos (Culasi, Antique). /PN
