President Rodrigo Duterte revealed a diagram of drug syndicates in the Philippines and one of the names he mentioned as part of the drug triad is Peter Lim. Since it was reported at first that Lim was out of the country when Duterte made the revelation on July 7, the President even issued a threat against him, telling him he will die the moment he arrives in NAIA.
But before the Cebuano-Chinese businessman Peter Lim met with Duterte in Davao City on July 16 and even before Duterte mentioned Lim as one of the suspected leaders of the drug triad in the country, they met on two occasions in Cebu.
Duterte and Lim’s first meeting was on June 8, 2016, during the President’s victory party at Level (8) ADNAMA, Mandaue City Reclamation Area, headquarters of the Adnama Mining Resources Inc. (AMRI). It was hosted for him by Adnama Group owner Fernando “Ding” Borja. They were pictured here, as posted by Cebuano radio/TV newscaster Leo Lastimosa, on his Facebook page.
Their second meeting was as kumpares, as they were both principal sponsors during the wedding of Beatriz Borja and Israeli expat Yuri Ofek last June 25, 2016. Borja is the daughter of the previously mentioned Ding Borja of the Adnama Group. The wedding was held at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa. They were also pictured in their barong wear.
If you read through the comments, there were several Duterte supporters claiming that the photos were edited. But Lim’s spokesperson, Dioscoro Fuentes Jr., confirmed that both Duterte and Lim were indeed present at the wedding, according to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report, so no edits here.
Both events and Duterte’s attendance in both, involving mining company owner Borja, were also covered by this Rappler report on June 28, although the Peter Lim association was not yet uncovered at this moment.
Some people defended Duterte by saying that this Peter Lim who met with Duterte could not be the drug lord that the President named during his drug triad revelation since there are around 400 Peter Lims in Cebu and around 4,000 people of the same name in the country. However, Lim voluntarily said that he was the same Peter Lim who was the subject of a congressional inquiry in 2001 and 2006.
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This SunStar report also showed the same Lim photographed with Duterte and his brother, Wellington, during a congressional inquiry in 2006.
And when Duterte and Lim finally met in Davao City for the third time, with Lim defending himself against Duterte’s accusations, some Filipinos cried discrimination in the way a wealthy suspected drug lord and the poor suspected drug pushers and drug users are being treated. They argued that while poor suspects were killed, the rich ones were even able to meet face to face with the President.
As this Peter Lim saga unfolds, we will learn more about whether Lim is indeed the drug lord that Duterte was referring to as part of the drug triad in the country. That is, if Lim follows Duterte’s advice to submit himself to an investigation.
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