(Eagle News) – Malacanang said that the public’s right to know transcended whatever rights to privacy and presumption of innocence that national and local candidates have, as it justified the government’s plan to release next week the so-called narco list of politicians.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that it is also wrong for candidates involved in illegal activities to stop the release of the narco-list which was prepared with the help of wiretapped information provided by foreign governments.
“How can you demand that you are presumed innocent when you are involved in something criminal? Another thing, the due process clause applies to the life, the liberty or property,” he said.
“Baka nga hindi sila pumasok doon eh, kasi you don’t deprive them naman of those three things pag nilabas mo lang iyong listahan.”
Panelo said that the public’s right to know is paramount especially when they go out and exercise their right to vote in the upcoming May national and local elections.
“We cannot allow people to run local governments – the barangays – by the destroyers of society. The people have the right to know; while there is an individual right, this individual right must yield to the people’s right to public safety, it must yield to people’s interest or the country’s interest,” he said.
-Wiretapped info from foreign gov’ts part of int’l effort to fight crime and terrorism-
Panelo, who is also the Presidential Legal Counsel, said there was nothing wrong with the Philippine government receiving wiretapped information from the intelligence operations of other countries which is helping the government fight crime and terrorism in the country.
“Walang batas na nagsasabing iligal iyon, kung binibigyan tayo ng impormasyon. In fact, we should be thankful na we are being provided with information relative to criminal activities in this country,” Panelo said.
He said that the Philippines had no capability for such high-tech wiretapping operations, and whatever equipment the country has is already outdated.
“Ang mga nagpo-provide sa atin ibang bansa eh. Ang magagaling diyan Israel, magaling diyan America, Russia, China. In other words, they provide us with the information. Kung tayo lang, eh wala. (Other countries provided us (with the information. Those which are good at this are Israel, America, Russia and China. We have no such equipment)” Panelo told reporters.
He said these countries provide such information to President Rodrigo Duterte in the course of cooperation to fight crime and terrorism.
“Ang mga bansa, all countries help each other in fighting terrorism and criminality. Siguro in the course of this cooperation, nagbibigay sila ng impormasyon,” he said.
