Malacañang on Friday defended Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Martin Diño’s directive to barangay officials to submit names of drug suspects in their area lest they face sanctions.

Diño's order was "not new" as it has been an old DILG memorandum that created the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC), said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

"The gathering of names is nothing new and does not breach any constitutional rights. The gathering of names is only the first step and the names will have to be investigated before cases and administrative cases will be fired at court," he told reporters in a briefing in Bukidnon.

Diño, a former chairperson of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), served as the presidential candidate of President Rodrigo Duterte's party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan, in the May 2016 elections until then Davao City Mayor Duterte decided to run for the position, replacing him at the last minute.

He was previously chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority before assuming the DILG post. - with a report from Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News