Duterte asks for mayors' help in drug war

President Rodrigo Duterte. NPPA

President Rodrigo Duterte asked for town and city mayors' help in the government's campaign against illegal drugs during their meeting in Malacañang on Wednesday, Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado Revilla said Thursday.

"Ni-reiterate niya ang tulong na gustong hingin sa mga mayor sa kanyang laban sa ipinagbabawal na gamot. He wants us to assist him," Revilla said on Thursday.

(He reiterated his plea to mayors to help his campaign against illegal drugs.)

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said it was the President's prerogative to make the meeting private.

He added that the meeting was not a "confrontation" and likened it to a "father talking to his children."

Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot, meanwhile, belied reports that Duterte threatened to kill the mayors during the meeting. He said Duterte warned them instead against having links with drug lords.

“[Sabi niya,] kung may mayor na makasama sa isang drug lord na being operated upon by the police o authorities, they will suffer the same fate as that of the drug lord na tinatrabaho,” Loot said in a phone interview on ANC’s “Top Story.”

(If there is a mayor who will be linked to a drug lord who is the subject of an operation by police or authorities, they will suffer the same fate as that of the drug lord who is the subject of an operation.)

Loot, a retired police officer, was earlier tagged by Duterte and self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa in the illegal drug trade.

Loot said Duterte had a good mood during their meeting, which happened in batches based on regions.

“Sabi nga niya, ‘I want to talk to you not as a president but as a mayor talking to another mayor,’ and for me, there was nothing really significant or threatening against the mayors,” Loot said.

Loot added that Duterte asked the mayors to check his "narco list" with the Department of Interior and Local Government to see the magnitude of the illegal drug problem.

Duterte also told mayors who want to discuss the problem on illegal drugs with him to schedule a meeting with the presidential staff, an invitation which Loot said he immediately took.

Loot said, after the meeting, he immediately asked Presidential Assistant Bong Go for a meeting with Duterte so he can clarify the allegations against him. --reports from Carolyn Bonquin and Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News