(Eagle News)—The Palace on Wednesday, April 3, dismissed as “black propaganda” a video circulating on social media that linked former Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte to illegal drugs.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, the “Ang Totoong Narcolist (The True Narcolist) Episode 1,” which was first posted on Tuesday on the Facebook account of “Metro Balita” that claims it was a “media/news company,” was “obviously” intended to “besmirch and destroy President Duterte and his family.”
“But just like the other false narratives against the President, it will not succeed, as the overwhelming majority of the Filipino people trust his sincerity and fidelity to his duty as President in serving and protecting the citizenry as well as believe in his incorruptibility,” Panelo said.
The younger Duterte also denied the allegations against him.
“WOW ha kung makaimbento ka wagas. Galit ka kay Waldo kasi binabara niya lahat ng smuggling mo ng bigas at asukal diba J. S. Galit ka sa akin kasi di kita pinansin sa eroplano kasi hambog ka! Ngayon pansinin na kita kasama ng kamay ko na kasing laki ng mukha mo pag nangyari yan. Yan ang totoong balita!” an angry presidential son said on Facebook.
The former vice mayor was referring to Waldo Carpio, the brother of Manases Carpio, husband of Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, presidential daughter.
Waldo Carpio is currently an agriculture undersecretary.
According to Panelo, critics “will always try to discredit (the President) but they are doomed to fail.”
“In the almost three years of his presidency they painted him criminal and evil, but survey after survey the Filipino people gave him an excellent rating on trust and on his unorthodox way of governance,” Panelo said.
In the six-minute video, a man in a hoodie who identified himself as “Bikoy” said the former Davao vice mayor used two code names, “Polo Delta-TSG01” and “Alpha Tierra-0029,” to receive payoffs from a drug syndicate.
“Bikoy” had said he knew about the supposed transactions because he was in charge of the supposed financial records of the drug syndicate that operated in Southern Luzon and the Visayas.
He said he left the supposed syndicate last year.
“Bikoy,” who showed a list of supposed drug lords, said the money was deposited to the bank accounts owned by Agriculture Undersecretary Waldo Carpio, a brother of lawyer Manases Carpio.
“I left the syndicate and tried to lead a new life. But the syndicate did not leave me alone and I’m now getting death threats,” Bikoy had said.