MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – In the hopes of informing voters, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will release a barangay drug list two weeks before the May 14 elections.

This was confirmed to Rappler by PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon in a text message, saying the list is 211 names long, all of which have been “validated.”

Carreon said they are just waiting for coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The anti-illegal drugs agency is set to file cases against those in the list once PDEA has prepared the documents, Carreon added.

PDEA chief Director General Aaron Aquino said in a text message to Rappler that the move has been approved by Malacañang.

The list is part of a longer roll which the PDEA keeps. The narco list is already 6,000 names long as of December 2017.

What it means: DILG Spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said the inclusion of a candidate in the list does not mean disqualification

“It won’t disqualify them from running but it will affect their candidacy because they will be identified as drug linked,” Malaya told Rappler in a text message.

Since the start of the preparations for the upcoming polls, the DILG has been campaigning for voters to only elect candidates who are “matino, mahusay, at maaasahan” (decent, competent, and reliable). – Rappler.com