MANILA – Will President Rodrigo Duterte release the list of barangay officials allegedly involved in illegal drugs?
“I will sleep on that issue. I’ll give it a thought. I’ll sleep on it. Maybe some time,” Duterte said Friday upon arrival in Davao City from an official visit to China and Hong Kong.
Duterte said that while he does not intend to affect the electorate’s freedom to choose their candidate, he wants to “[let] them know that you might just elect the wrong guy.”
At the same time he acknowledged that if the names are released, “we go back into this rigmarole of denials and everything, and even mayors getting killed along the way.”
But Duterte reiterated his “zero tolerance” approach to drugs.
“There is no middle ground here. Hindi ako maglalaro sa droga. I do not talk to criminals,” he said.
“Ngayon, magkaharap tayo eventually,” he added. “I know it from as a mayor for the longest time – you are caught, you are brought to my office and you start to say a narrative of apologies.”
Around 9,000 barangay captains were included in the “narco-list,” the Department of the Interior and Local Government had said./PN
