COMELEC: is set to release 'Narco List' before May polls

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  The release of the so-called narco-list ahead of the elections is the “call” of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Commission on Elections said on Monday, March 4.

“If someone wants to release the narco list, then that is their call entirely. Wala po kaming.. hindi po kami involved diyan,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

Comelec chair Sheriff Abbas said the release of the list would actually be a good guide for voters.

In a radio interview on Sunday, March 3, Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon said, however, that releasing the list was a form of “negative campaigning,” and was “unfair.”

“Huwag niyong iboto ‘to ng mga taong kasi mga drug pusher ito.’ E di negative campaigning iyan. Unfair naman ‘yun,” Guanzon had said.

But Abas noted a candidate’s inclusion in the narco-list was not a grounds for disqualification from the 2019 election race anyway.

He said if the candidate was included in the list, it means there were drug allegations against him/her. 

President Duterte has backed the release of the said narco-list.