MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said there are at least two incumbent congressmen in President Rodrigo Duterte’s final list of public officials and police officers involved in the narcotics trade.

Alvarez revealed this in a press conference on Tuesday, January 17, when asked how many lawmakers are in the narco list, a copy of which the Speaker has had since December 2016.

“Congressman? Dalawa yata… Definitely meron sa Mindanao (Congressmen? There are two, I think… Definitely there’s one from Mindanao),” said Alvarez, who refused to disclose further details on the other congressman involved. 

The Davao del Norte 1st District representative said, however, he is convinced that the Mindanao lawmaker in the list is a drug protector.

“Marami akong kaibigan na pinagtanungan (I asked many of my friends),” said Alvarez, who added that he continues to validate the information in Duterte’s drug list. 

“Okay, ‘yung listahan na binigay sa akin, validated. Ibig sabihin, marami nang ahensiya na pinanggalingan. Pero on my part, dino-double check ko pa rin. Marami naman tayong kaibigan sa iba’t ibang parte [ng bansa],” explained Alvarez.

(Okay, the list that was given to me was validated. This means that it has passed through several agencies already. But on my part, I’m still double checking. We have a lot of friends in all parts of the country.)

Asked if the second congressmen in the list was Pangasinan 5th District Representative Amado Espino Jr, whom Duterte previously named in an alleged drug matrix in August 25, 2016, he replied in the negative.

Duterte later apologized to Espino and other implicated Pangasinan officials for “being negligent in counterchecking.” 

On Tuesday, Alvarez said he is still thinking of talking to the two congressmen allegedly involved in the illegal trade. – Rappler.com