MANILA, Philippines — If dismissed cop Eduardo Acierto really had verified information to disclose and had no involvement in the narcotics trade, he should come out of hiding and voluntarily surrender.
Sen. Richard Gordon made the statement after Acierto accused Duterte and his trusted aide Christopher “Bong” Go of giving protection to Chinese trader and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang and another businessman, Allan Lim.
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“Nagtatago siya. Bakit siya magtatago? Dapat lumabas siya kung wala siyang kasalanan. Sumuko na lang siya. Sabi ko sabihin mo na sa publiko ‘yang gusto mong sabihin kung gusto mong makatulong sayo. Ayaw naman niya lumabas, di na nagpakita,” Gordon said in a release Wednesday.
(He is hiding. Why is he hiding? He should come out if he is not at fault. He should surrender instead. I told him to tell the public what he wants to say if he wants help. He does not want to come out.)
Gordon said the dismissed cop mentioned Yang and showed a supposed diagram of the drug operations in the country of an international drug ring during an executive session done at the height of the Senate blue ribbon committee’s probe into the shabu smuggling.
Acierto, however, failed to present evidence, the Senate blue ribbon panel chair said.
Gordon added that he had asked Acierto to become a state witness and be taken under the Witness Protection Program’s wing but he did take the senator’s offer.
“Ang lagi lang niyang sinasabi eh may nalalaman siya. Pero he wasn’t specific, there was no concrete and supporting evidence to back up his allegations,” he said.
(He always says that he knows something. But he wasn’t specific, there was no concrete and supporting evidence to back up his allegations.)
Acierto once served as the officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group—a unit disbanded in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of Korean businessman Jee Ick-Joo.
Acierto, accused of being involved in the entry of the P11-billion worth of illegal drugs into the country, claimed there is a P15-million bounty on his head.
De Lima: Let public see Acierto’s report
Sen. Leila de Lima, on the other hand, said the report of Acierto about the alleged links of Yang to the illegal drug trade should be made available for public scrutiny and validation of the information.
The detained senator said Acierto’s report did not only link a personality connected to Duterte in the illegal drug trade but also placed doubts on the real purpose of the government’s war on drugs.
“The intel report of Acierto, if publicized and verified, will raise questions as to Duterte’s real involvement in the drug trade in the country. Kasi kung malinis talaga si Duterte, bakit naduduwag siyang paimbestigahan si Yang at ang kasabwat nito? Nakikinabang ba siya sa ‘drug business’ o siya ba ang totoong mastermind,” De Lima said.
(If Duterte is really clean, why is he terrified to investigate Yan and his partner. Is he gaining profit from the “drug business” or is he the real mastermind?)