The President has accused opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as the brains behind the viral video alleging that his son former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte is receiving payoffs from an illegal drug syndicate.
President Duterte also dismissed the six-minute video as an old black propaganda being perpetrated by the 鈥淵ellows鈥� or the opposition.
鈥淧urveyor of that is [Trillanes] and the rest of the Yellows, so I just let him be. That has become his passion,鈥� Duterte said in an interview with reporters in Puerto Princesa City.
A viral video, titled 鈥淎ng Totoong Narco List (The True Narcolist) Episode 1,鈥� has linked Duterte鈥檚 son in the illegal drug trade, accusing him of receiving payoffs from a drug ring, an accusation that he has denied.
The younger Duterte is running for representative of Davao City鈥檚 first district in May鈥檚 midterm elections.
The video also linked Agriculture Assistant Secretary Waldo Carpio to the narcotics trade.
Carpio is the brother of Manases Carpio, the husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
The video showed a list of grease money deposited into two accounts allegedly belonging to the agriculture assistant secretary.
Trillanes and the younger Duterte have been locked in a bitter feud after the opposition senator accused him and Manases Carpio of involvement in drug smuggling.
Colored dragon tattoo
In a Senate hearing in 2017, Trillanes asked Duterte to show a tattoo on his back, which the senator claimed to be a colored dragon, the mark of the triad, a syndicate involved in a number of criminal activities.
The younger Duterte has sued Trillanes for libel for the allegations against him.
But Trillanes denied being the brains behind the 鈥淭otoong Narco List鈥� viral videos, describing them as 鈥渨ell-explained鈥濃�攖he kind he wished he was a part of.
鈥楽adly, I am not鈥�
鈥淭he accusations of the witness were very serious, quite pointed, and well-explained,鈥� he said.
Trillanes added: 鈥淗aving said that, I really wish I was part of the making of the videos so I could relish these moments but sadly, I am not.鈥�
Sen. Leila de Lima also supported Trillanes鈥� call for Paolo Duterte to show his tattoo to disprove that he is involved in the illegal drug trade.
Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros, for her part, backed calls for the Senate to reopen its investigation on the illegal drug trade, following the viral video.
But Otso Diretso senatorial candidate Gary Alejano said the President鈥檚 son should answer the issues.
鈥淭hey must answer first if the issue is true. Let鈥檚 go to the contents of the video. Is it true that you鈥檙e involved in drugs?鈥澛� said Alejano who was in Bohol on Friday for the Otso Diretso sortie together with Romy Macalintal, Chel Diokno and Samira Gutoc.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has appealed to those implicating individuals in illegal drugs syndicates to forward the evidence to law enforcement agencies.
鈥淚f they鈥檙e going to ask law enforcers to act on it, first and foremost, we have to determine the authenticity of all they鈥檝e said. How could we do that if not a single document is in the possession of law enforcement?鈥� said PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon, in a television interview on Thursday.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 have evidence or basis but social media posts, no matter how good the investigator, they will have a hard time,鈥� Carreon said.