Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has forgotten his law ever since he became the official apologist of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Roque’s claim that Duterte does not have to prove his accusation that Naga City was “a hotbed of shabu”, and it is for the Naga City officials to prove otherwise, desecrates the cardinal rule that “he who alleges must prove his allegation” and the legal dictum that “he who asserts, not he who denies, must prove”.

Duterte’s charge is bereft of proof as he failed to name the alleged drug lords operating in Naga City and document the supposed volume of shabu which has been confiscated in Bicol’s acknowledged capital.

Neither was there any disclosure of the number of persons apprehended and indicted for shabu trafficking and use in Naga City and the number of addicts from Naga City who are confined in drug rehabilitation centers.

A wild and gratuitous accusation is a virtual hallucination and an errant and feeble excuse is simply folly, which are both aberrations in law.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN