'Drug lords offer P10 million for PDEA chief's assassination'

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City, Philippines – Big-time drug lords have put up in a P10-million reward for the assassination of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Dionisio Santiago, Marine Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino claimed over the weekend.

Marcelino, a member of PMA class 1994 attending the alumni homecoming here on Saturday, claimed the drug lords have also included him in the target list as PDEA’s chief enforcer.

“We are eating threats for breakfast,” Marcelino told reporters while clutching his six-year-old son Amir.

Santiago, also a PMA graduate, was not able to attend this year’s homecoming.

Marcelino said his and Santiago’s situation is no different from other PDEA agents around the country where drug syndicates put up a hefty sum and pay contract killers to eliminate anyone going against their illicit operations.

He cited the recent murder of PDEA agent Edward Gautani Sr. in Candon City, Ilocos Sur last December where “guns-for-hire” were so ruthless that even the agent’s 16-year-old son was not spared.

Definitely, the killing is drug-related, according to Marcelino.

He insisted that even as a supposed botched raid in Candon might have led to the brutal killing of Gautani as revenge.

Authorities have filed a double murder case against the suspects Benson Alviento and Manuel Rivera.