Duterte threatens to kill suspected Cebu drug lord

MANILA, Philippines - President Duterte threatened to kill businessman Peter Lim if it will be proven that he is among the country’s top drug lords.

Lim had a meeting with Duterte late Friday at the regional office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Davao City.

After identifying Lim as among the drug personalities being protected by the so-called narco generals, Duterte threatened to kill the Cebu-based businessman if it will be proven that he is a drug lord.

“I warned you that I will have you killed. I will really have you killed. If I’m able to prove (you’re a drug lord), I will finish you off,” Duterte warned Lim in the local dialect during their meeting.

At the meeting, Lim admitted he was the one being referred to by the President but denied any drug links.

“I don’t like liars,” Duterte blurted out.

“All of the law enforcements units, the police, PDEA and the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) are pointing you as a drug lord, isn’t it?” Duterte told Lim.

The meeting was recorded on video and posted online yesterday by the state-run RVTM.

In the video, Lim stressed to Duterte that he had nothing to do with illegal drugs.

He admitted that he frequently goes abroad, sometimes for vacation with his family, but again denied having links to illegal drug operations.

“My family is in deep problem now. We are getting the threat,” Lim told the President. 

Lim said he may have been implicated in a congressional investigation on allegations that he is a member of the drug triad operating in the Visayas region.

Duterte then advised Lim to get himself a lawyer and submit before an investigation of the Department of Justice and the NBI.

“I will execute you if you fail…you better go to the investigating agency, (the) NBI there in Manila but if you have the time, you may want to bring along a lawyer,” Duterte told Lim.

“There’s no problem, it’s a constitutional (right), you do not have to be afraid. Just bring along a lawyer and go either to the NBI or straight to the secretary of Justice,” he added.

For his part, Lim expressed his willingness to cooperate to clear his name.

“We want to help you…help us clear you. We are not here to pin down innocent citizens,” the President told Lim.

Lim was accompanied by lawyers when he presented himself to Duterte at around 11 p.m. Friday.

He met with Duterte in the presence of officials from the NBI, the Davao City Police and PDEA.

PDEA chief Isidro Lapeña said the Peter Lim that surrendered to Duterte on Friday was actually the same Peter Lim that has been included in the rogues gallery of the most notorious drug traffickers in the country.

An official, however, said there are around 400 Peter Lims in Cebu and around 4,000 in the whole country.

The source added the Peter Lim who met the President in Davao on Friday was, in fact, one of his campaign supporters during the election campaign in Cebu.

This is why when the President named him as one of the top three drug lords in the country, Lim’s children denied this in a report. 

During Duterte’s victory party in Cebu, it was also gathered that the Peter Lim who surrendered in Davao was at the event. He was with his brother Wellington Lim, being both supporters of Duterte during the campaign.

A PDEA official in Davao, however, maintained Duterte doesn’t know Peter Lim. He said Lim’s surrender was arranged by a common friend.

Aside from Lim, Duterte has named two other drug traffickers in the country, Peter Co and Herbert Colangco, both serving sentence at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Lim was let go after the meeting since there was no case filed against him. He was told to make himself available for the expected investigation.

Lim expressed support for Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs campaign. 

“I am all the way with you, Mr. President,” he said. 

Lim said he was grateful to Duterte for allowing him to explain his side. – With Jaime Laude, Marvin Sy, Ghio Ong