By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Outgoing Negros Press Club President Renato Duran has sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to trace the origins of the “malicious drug lists” circulating on social media, which named several media personalities, including the press club official.

Duran met with NBI officer-in-charge, Atty. Renoir Baldivino, to request the agency’s expertise in tracking down the source of the lists.

Baldivino said the NBI Cybercrime Division can assist in the matter.

In an earlier released statement, members of local Negros Occidental media cited “inconsistencies” and a “seeming lack of logic,” echoing a point made by incumbent Murcia Mayor Andrew Montelibano, who also appears on the list, regarding “conflicting parties out to destroy each other.”

They claimed those who crafted the list of muddling their tracks by “including random names.”

The statement went on to call the lists “unacceptable,” saying, “No one, and we mean no one, should be subjected to trial by publicity and, worse, punished without being accorded due process.”

The Kapisanan ng mga Broadkaster sa Pilipinas also issued a statement denouncing the  circulation of the “unvalidated and unverified” lists./DGB, WDJ