Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has fired the city’s information officer, who on Tuesday confirmed she attended a party over the weekend that was later raided for illegal drugs.
In a statement, the Office of the City Mayor said Jefry Tupas was terminated a day after attending a party where anti-narcotics officers confiscated some P1.5 million worth of party drugs and marijuana.
“Last Sunday, Jefry signified her resignation and on the same moment [she] was informed that [she] is terminated from work with the City Government of Davao,” Duterte-Carpio’s office said.
“I was there. I left early with my boyfriend and another friend,” Tupas told ABS-CBN News.
Duterte-Carpio’s office said details of the raid “are known only to the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) officers in Davao de Oro and Ms. Tupas.”
Suspected party drugs, shabu and marijuana were seized during an anti-drug operation at a resort in Davao de Oro last Saturday.
Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation and PDEA arrested 17 people, many of whom authorities claimed were caught amid a drug session.
Duterte-Carpio’s father, President Rodrigo Duterte, has been waging a massive war against illegal drugs since coming to power in 2016.
On Thursday, the Duterte patriarch said he was taking full responsibility for the bloody war on drugs that has killed thousands of people but maintained he will never be tried by an international court.