Jonvic: No evidence linking Dutertes to Laos drugs

October 21, 2026 | 12:00am

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. holds a press conference at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City on May 10, 2026.

The STAR / Miguel de Guzman

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities have no evidence linking the Duterte family to the 512-kilo shabu shipment seized in Laos, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, even as he noted that alleged drug financier Edrieza Rimbang has long been a political ally of the family.

“There is no evidence pointing to (involvement in the shabu shipment), but there is evidence that they know each other,” Remulla told reporters on the sidelines of the 20th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime.

Remulla said Rimbang and members of the Duterte family had been political allies for years, having run under the same party.

He stressed that such association alone does not establish involvement in the drug shipment. But he wondered why Rimbang, whom Remulla described as a known drug personality, was not placed on the narco watchlist during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.

Remulla described Rimbang as a financier and the head of his own organization, but said he was only one of several people being investigated in connection with the drug trade.

He contrasted Rimbang’s case with that of former Iloilo City mayor and current Interior undersecretary Jed Patrick Mabilog, who he said was included in the drug list despite having no involvement in illegal drugs.

Remulla argued that the cases illustrated the consequences of an anti-drug campaign that failed to observe due process.

Mabilog left the country after claiming that his life was in danger following his inclusion on the drug watchlist. Remulla said the former mayor was among those who suffered from accusations that were not adequately tested in court.

The DILG chief said authorities were also investigating other people who may have been involved in the Laos shipment, adding that Rimbang was not necessarily the head of the entire network.

National security

After failing to pin impeachable offenses against her, the Vice President said the government shifted tactics by raising national security issues against her – an alleged Chinese-backed business venture and a drug bust in Laos.

In a statement issued yesterday, Duterte said the government is stretching the story to make it appear that there is a conspiracy.

“When the House of Representatives prosecution team failed to establish a convincing case of an impeachable offense, all it could offer were wacky poses that were neither entertaining nor amusing,” she said.

“Now, we are witnessing an apparent shift in the government’s narrative in taking me down, attempting to reframe the matter as a national security issue. Every thread seems to be stretched into a conspiracy – from a business venture allegedly linked to Chinese funding to a drug bust in Laos supposedly connected to a Mindanao-Davao conspiracy,” Duterte added. — Evelyn Macarian, Helen Flores