The Philippine National Police (PNP) said on July 3 that authorities were still verifying if the businessman and suspected drug lord Peter Lim had fled.

PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar said in a Laging Handa government briefing that the verification system was “not perfect,” especially with a common name like “Peter Lim.”

“Alam niyo po ay hindi naman po perpekto ang ating sistema at hindi lang naman sa ganyang pagkakataon na talagang may nakakalusot kasi ‘yong sinasabi na pangalan na Peter Lim ay talagang daan-daan o posibleng baka libo pa nga ang pangalan na ganyan,” Eleazar said.

Earlier, Eleazar ordered the Directorate for Intelligence, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to search for Lim and coordinate with concerned government agencies and foreign counterparts.

On July 1, the Malacañang said it did not know the whereabouts of Lim and stood by the Department of Justice’s claim that the suspected drug kingpin had no recent record of departure.

Lim has been in hiding shortly after his arrest order in August 2018 on charges of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading. Jelo Ritzhie Mantaring