(Eagle News)–Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo went to the defense of two Cabinet secretaries over their claims some human rights groups may have links to drug syndicates
In a statement, Panelo said Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque were only “expressing concern” when they said that human rights group may be “unwitting tools” of drug syndicates to destabilize the government.
“We are not dispensing accusatory allegations.They are merely expressing concern that human rights groups, without them knowing it, may be being funded by drug money, making them therefore unwitting victims,” he said.
According to Panelo, “in the realm of possibility, that is not farfetched.”
“Since they have been critical on the administration’s war on drugs, the drug lords could contribute funds without identifying themselves as the source of the donation for obvious reason,” he said.
It was Cayetano who first brought up the possibility of a link between some human rights groups and drug lords, a claim seconded by Roque.
