A former senior government official who is now identified with the camp of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has identified convicted drug kingpin Peter Co as the one who allegedly raised a “bounty of P50 million each” for the incoming President and his anointed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. “Originally, the offer was only P10 million but since nobody took the offer, it was raised to P50 million each,” said the former official, who held highly sensitive posts in previous administrations.
Speaking on condition that he would not be named, the former official told The Manila Times that the information was relayed to them by intelligence sources “from within and outside [New] Bilibid [Prisons]” or NBP, the national penitentiary. “We have different sources yet the information is the same. We have a saying that where there is smoke there is fire. Peter Co is said to be the drug kingpin who raised the issue of bounty. There are other big-time drug traffickers with him but he is now said to be the one running the show,” the source said.
When asked how they managed to get the information. he replied, “The walls have ears.”
During the time of then-Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Dionisio Santiago, the source said Co was transferred to the Leyte Penal Colony in the Visayas region in central Philippines to prevent him from “trading.” A local politician from the Visayas allegedly tried to bribe Santiago with P5 million in exchange for transferring Co back to Manila but the former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief declined.
Speaking on condition that he would not be named, the former official told The Manila Times that the information was relayed to them by intelligence sources “from within and outside [New] Bilibid [Prisons]” or NBP, the national penitentiary. “We have different sources yet the information is the same. We have a saying that where there is smoke there is fire. Peter Co is said to be the drug kingpin who raised the issue of bounty. There are other big-time drug traffickers with him but he is now said to be the one running the show,” the source said.
When asked how they managed to get the information. he replied, “The walls have ears.”
During the time of then-Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Dionisio Santiago, the source said Co was transferred to the Leyte Penal Colony in the Visayas region in central Philippines to prevent him from “trading.” A local politician from the Visayas allegedly tried to bribe Santiago with P5 million in exchange for transferring Co back to Manila but the former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief declined.
