Following the release of a list, which was reportedly sent to a local radio station by a certain “Macario Dima,” naming 24 local individuals as “drug protectors,” a Bacolod City lawyer on the list yesterday denied the allegations.

“That is farthest from the truth,” Atty. Cesar Beloria, Jr. affirmed. “That is something wrong.”

The list, entitled “Drug protectors list, subject for neutralization, 2019 validated narco list,” is comprised of a partylist representative, two Negros Occidental mayors, one vice mayor, four city councilors, six lawyers, four radio personalities, and six police officers.

“Who would not feel fear as the list said the names were subject to neutralization?” he asked. “Does it mean that they will kill me?”

Beloria pointed out, two individuals on the list are already dead.

“I believe this is designed to malign somebody against their perceived enemies and they just included our names,” he asserted. “It is unfair.”

The attorney said the list may be political, as it is an election year; however, he also suggested, “It may also be of my engagements in some cases or they heard me during my media interviews.”

Beloria said he revealed himself to the public, noting, “It has now, seemingly, become a trend where anybody can just make a list, kill you, and make you collateral damage in the government’s war on drugs.”

He said others on the list have already contacted him and expressed an interest in having the matter investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, along with experts on information technology as a means of tracking down the source./DGB, WDJ