MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed police colonel Eduardo Acierto alleged that former president Rodrigo Duterte wanted him dead because he found out that some of his "close friends" were into illegal drugs

"Ako din po ang parehong police colonel Eduardo Acierto na matagal nang ipinapahanap at ipinapapatay ng dating pangulong (Rodrigo) Duterte sa militar at sa kapwa ko pulis," Acierto said on Wednesday at the House of Representatives' Committee on Dangerous Drugs, stemming from the P3.6 billion shabu seized at a warehouse in Pampanga in 2023.

(I am the same police colonel Eduardo Acierto whom former president Duterte wants the military and my fellow policemen to find and kill.)

"Pinapapatay po ako ni Duterte dahil natalisod ko at pinaimbestigahan ko sila Michael Yang at Allan Lim na malapit nilang kaibigan ni Sen. Bong Go," he said.

(Duterte wants me killed because I stumbled upon and had his and Senator Bong Go's close friends Michael Yang and Allan Lim investigated.)

Acierto alleged that Yang and Lim were illegal drug personalities.

Duterte, under his administration, had waged a controversial war against drugs that resulted in the deaths even of innocents. The International Criminal Court (ICC) wants to try Duterte whose response has been to pull out the Philippines from the organization.

Asked for Duterte's comment on Acierto's allegations, former presidential spokesman Harry Roque said, "Let him file the [appropriate] case if [he] wants.".