Duterte to cops: 'Yang smuggling-smuggling, OK na sana 'yan sa 'kin, 'wag lang droga

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said that he could tolerate policemen involved in smuggling as long as they were not linked to the illegal drug trade.

“OK na lang sana 'yang smuggling-smuggling, OK na sana 'yan sa 'kin. 'Wag lang droga. ‘Wag lang talaga droga," he said at the Federalism Summit and PDP-Laban Oath-Taking in Camarines Sur.

Duterte has repeatedly spoken out about police officials supposedly involved in the drug trade, vowing that he won't tolerate these cases.

His latest pronouncement on smuggling, meanwhile, comes months after his son Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and son-in-law Manases Carpio  were linked to the so-called Davao Group allegedly involved in smuggling, as claimed by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Duterte has defended his son and son-in-law from Trillanes' accusations. He has also denied Paolo's involvement in the Bureau of Customs.

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee, in a draft report, said “no evidence was established to connect the two to the smuggling of drugs or other contraband,” after Paolo and Carpio appeared at the Senate to deny Trillanes’ allegations.

The panel, however, recommended lifestyle checks on both the President’s relative. —JST, GMA News