Bato clears VP Sara’s husband, Paolo in drug smuggling

MANILA, Philippines — While planning to conduct an investigation into allegations of a former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer implicating Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, in drug smuggling, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa has virtually cleared them.

In an interview with Senate reporters yesterday, Dela Rosa said there were no indications that Carpio was involved in illegal drug activities, while Paolo could undergo hair follicle drug testing to detect evidence of drug use or misuse.

 “Especially Mans Carpio, who exercises every day. You can’t see signs of drugs there. Polong wants to do a hair follicle test. Let’s test him,” Dela Rosa told reporters.

The senator, who is from Davao, was the first chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) under the Duterte
administration. He ran and won a Senate seat in 2019.

During a House quad committee hearing, former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban linked Paolo, Carpio and Chinese businessman Michael Yang, who served as economic adviser of former president Rodrigo Duterte, to the smuggling of illegal drugs, including P11 billion worth of shabu confiscated in 2018.

Dela Rosa disclosed that he would file a resolution to conduct an investigation parallel to the House quad committee probe.

“The only thing I wonder about (Guban’s) statement is that he claimed that the Duterte administration forced him to include the name of former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who was involved in the magnetic lifter,” he said.

“It became clear that it was a new script, that it was a scripted statement, even if I, myself, hate Trillanes, I don’t believe that he is involved in drugs. If the accusation is that Trillanes is involved in the coup against Duterte, it is still possible. But with drugs, no one will believe that,” he added.

Carpio yesterday denied his involvement in the smuggling of illegal drugs, saying the allegations are “entirely baseless and maliciously false.”

In a GMA News report, Carpio dismissed the allegations of Guban and expressed confidence in the ability of the members of the House of Representatives to “distinguish between fact and fiction.”