MANILA - A town mayor linked by President Rodrigo Duterte to the narcotics trade has claimed that a former justice secretary who is now a senator was a protector of drug lords, a police official said Wednesday.

Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, Albuera town police chief, however did not directly identify the alleged protector as Senator Leila de Lima. Espenido said Albuera Mayor Ronald Espinosa Sr. made the allegation in a sworn statement.

Duterte has accused De Lima, who was justice secretary for six years from 2010, of allowing her former driver and alleged lover to collect money from drug lords detained at the national penitentiary.

Duterte's 'drugs matrix' tags De Lima, others

A photo of De Lima with Espinosa's son, Ronald "Kerwin," an alleged top drug trafficker in the Visayas, appeared in a Philippine Daily Inquirer article on Tuesday. De Lima said the picture did not prove her alleged drug links.

De Lima, who is leading an inquiry into the hundreds of deaths linked to Duterte's war on drugs, has dismissed the President's allegation as "laughable."

De Lima vows to press on in battle with Duterte

The elder Espinosa will not name alleged high-profile protectors of drug lords until he is placed under the government's witness protection program, Espenido said.

Espenido said the Mayor was fearing for the safety of his family, who are not under police protective custody, after he named some of his son's alleged cohorts.

Police have three witnesses to support the mayor's claim, Espenido said.