Surigao broadcaster Edito Mapayo was tagged as a protector of drug lords by unidentified individuals.

On April 29, Mapayo saw graffiti with the text, “Ed Mapayo, drug protector” in different parts of the city.

Mapayo said that days before the incident, he criticized how PDEA agents confiscated personal belongings of drug suspects during a raid on March 15, 2024 in Barangay Tayaga, Claver, Surigao del Norte.

Being linked to illegal drugs is dangerous in the Philippines. This tactic was routinely used under the previous administration to justify extrajudicial killings.