Duterte admits to illegal wiretapping of alleged narco-politicians

wiretapping
President Duterte speaks to President Trump (file photo)

President Duterte has admitted that he ordered the wiretapping of politicians alleged to be involved in drugs.

During a rant about Iloilo Mayor Jed Mabilog and the late Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, Duterte said he had listened in on their conversations.

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Speaking to reporters in Marawi City yesterday (Thursday, September 21), he said: “I was listening to him. Don’t ask me what kind of listening device. It was a whisper from God I was listening to. So they were all tapped.

“I was the one who ordered it. I cannot name the people there – the police or…” At this point the president trailed off mid-sentence.

According to the Anti-Wiretapping Law (Republic Act 4200), wiretapping is only legal under a court order.

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Immunity for wiretapping

Asked if the president had waited for a court order before instructing law enforcers to wiretap suspects, his spokesman Ernesto Abella said today: “I’m sure that, being a lawyer, he was operating within bounds of legality.”

However, even if the president didn’t obtain a court order, he can’t be charged because he enjoys constitutional immunity while in office.

The president is standing by his allegations against Mabilog, whom he has described as the “number one” drug protector.

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“I was not saying Mayor Mabilog was making shabu. I said he was protector number one. Remember my statement the early days when I was president. I called the attention of Iloilo people. Your city or your province is the most shabulized, if that is a word,” he said.

He also alleged that Mabilog was still out of the country because “he is afraid to suffer the same fate with Parojinog”.

The Iloilo Mayor left the Philippines to attend a conference in Japan.

Mabilog has denied protecting drug syndicates but that hasn’t stopped the president from making other claims about him, such as describing his home as a “palace”. He made this claim after supposedly ordering a lifestyle check on Mabilog.

Parojinog was killed in July during a police raid on his home. Also killed were his wife, brother, sister and 11 others.