FORMER Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr. on Monday denied seeing a drug watch list in 2012 that allegedly included President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and other celebrities, contrary to the claim of a former drug enforcement agent who said he had ordered PDEA to halt its probe back then.
At a Senate public order hearing, Mr. Ochoa said he had never met former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agent Jonathan Morales, who told senators earlier Mr. Ochoa had halted the investigation.
“I don’t even know him, and I don’t recall any occasion that we met or talked,” he said. “I completely deny that I had made those instructions as alleged.”
PDEA earlier denied including Mr. Marcos, who was a senator at the time, in its drug watch list.
Senator Francis N. Tolentino earlier filed a bill that seeks to impose a life term and a fine of at least P2 million on people who leak top state secrets. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
