Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 29) — Malacañang has offered a ₱10-million reward to fasttrack the arrest of a former anti-narcotics police officer who tagged President Rodrigo Duterte’s ex-foreign adviser in the drug trade, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Monday.
“P10M bounty confirmed, but I’m not privy to where it will be sourced. the amount is certainly much larger than what the DOJ could offer,” he said in a text message to reporters, referring to Eduardo Acierto
Guevarra said his team is focused on going after Acierto’s coddlers and protectors.
Earlier this month, a Manila court ordered the arrest of Acierto and other former government officials over the controversial multibillion-peso illegal drug shipment that slipped past Customs in 2018.
Acierto, former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency deputy director general for administration Ismael Fajardo Jr, and former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban were tagged by the National Bureau of Investigation as “core conspirators” in facilitating the entry of more than ₱13 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) concealed in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port in June. Authorities seized the shipment in August.
The three were also included in President Rodrigo Duterte’s “special report” which revealed names of government officials supposedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
Acierto in March made rounds when he tagged former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang as part of the drug trade. Both Malacañang and Duterte earlier cleared Yang of such links.
