Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Dionisio Santiago has admitted that prior to the arrest of Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson in Hong Kong, they received information about his alleged drug activities but it turned out negative.

“We received information about (Singson) before but after further inquiry it turned out negative,” Dionisio made the reaction at the sidelines of the 83rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army of China at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati last Tuesday night.

Dionisio said information received by PDEA, especially with regards to politicians, they have to determine the veracity of the report first.

“If you talk about information, there's lots of it but you have to validate it first. We have a system of including people in our target watchlist and OB (Order of Battle) list. There’s a system,” Dionisio said.

He said PDEA has certain criteria before a person is included in such lists. (Roy C. Mabasa)