THE administration’s “bloodless” anti-drug campaign has so far netted as much as 4.4 tons of shabu worth P30 billion since President Marcos Jr. assumed his post on July 1 last year, the chair of the House committee on dangerous drugs said yesterday.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers announced the figures during the panel’s hearing on the seizure last month in Mexico, Pampanga of 530 kilos of shabu worth P3.6 billion, which lawmakers are investigating to determine if local officials are involved in the illegal activity.
Barbers said that with a street value of P30 billion, the drug haul under the Marcos administration is enough to fund the election campaign of drug lords.
“This amount can most definitely finance the elections and victory of drug lords in our political arena. Kahit po kampanya pang-Presidente, kayang pondohan ng war chest na yan (That war chest can even fund a presidential campaign),” he told the panel.
On top of the 4.4 tons of shabu, Barbers said, were almost three tons of dried marijuana leaves seized by authorities.
The hearing was the offshoot of House Resolution (HR) Nos. 1346 and 1351 authored by Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga and Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun, respectively.
It was attended by officials of the NBI, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) and the PNP-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-PDEG).
Barber said that of the 4.4 tons of drugs seized, a huge chunk was just recently seized: 200 kilos came from Mabalacat, Pampanga last August 25; 560 kilos from the Subic port that was brought to Mexico last September 24; and 323 kilos just last October 4 seized at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) in Manila.
“I would like to extend my heartfelt felicitations to our law enforcement agencies, the PDEA, NBI, PDEG, and the Bureau of Customs, for a very, very fruitful campaign against illegal drugs under the administration of President BBM,” Barbers said. “Sa loob lamang ng limang linggo, naka-1.3 tonelada na po ang nahuhuli (in just a span of five weeks, as much as 1.3 tons of drugs have been seized).”
On the questioning of Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, NBI Assistant Director Angelito Magno later clarified that the 200 kilos confiscated in Mabalacat was actually a shabu extender and not shabu.
“We did not claim that those substances found were shabu. The media came out that it was suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) but the NBI never claimed that those were shabu,” the NBI official said.
Gonzales expressed fears that the province of Pampanga is being used to smuggle illegal drugs, saying the Barbers panel “will dig deeper and uncover the mystery behind this smuggling because I believe that there are personalities who knowingly facilitated this shipment.”
Barbers said his panel has to find out “how our country continues to be the favorite destination of illegal drugs and who are the big personalities or even bigger entities behind these shipments to flood us with these contrabands with fictitious and non-existent consignees.”
Towards the end of the hearing, the panel approved Acop’s motion to subpoena businessman Willy Ong, the owner of the Mexico warehouse where the 530 kilos of shabu worth P3.6 billion was seized. He was a no-show despite having been invited to attend the hearing.
While the panel has approved the motion, Speaker Martin Romualdez has yet to act on the panel’s request for him to sign the subpoena.
It was through the SBMA port that the 530 kilos of shabu entered the country before being transported to Barangay San Jose Malino in Mexico and the Barbers panel wants to know if local officials were involved in the illegal activity.
Lawmakers said Ong’s building permit was approved by former Mexico municipal Mayor Teddy Tumang, who admitted that Ong bought the land where the warehouse was built from his brother.
“Huwag sana po kayong magagalit (former) Mayor (Teddy) Tumang, gusto lang po naming malaman kasi dalawang beses na po sa Pampanga, sa Mexico po (Please don’t be offended Mayor Tumang, we just want to know because this has happened twice in Pampanga, in Mexico) and this is one of the biggest drug busts, whether the officials from barangay to municipality, we are not accusing anyone yet Mayor Tumang, pero gusto po nating malaman kung involved po kayong mga local official doon sa drug bust (but we need to know if you local officials there are involved),” said Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel.
On Pimentel’s prodding, the panel later adopted Acop’s motion to also subpoena a certain Roy Gomez, who worked for the assessor’s office in Mexico, since he allegedly facilitated the sale of the land in San Jose Malino, Mexico City to Ong.
“Nakikita ko po Mr. chair, parang iyung municipality of Mexico (What I see Mr. Chair is it seems that the municipality of Mexico is very privy to the activities of Mr. Willy Ong starting from the barangay all the way up to the municipality. Now Roy Gomez, Mr. chair, is a very close confidant of Mayor Tumang, since Mayor Tumang was the one who approved the building permit, who approved the occupancy permit,” Pimentel said.
Barbers said: “The procedure is we will issue an invitation and if the invitation is not honored, the committee is compelled to issue a subpoena. In this case, we issued an invitation to Mr. Willy Ong and Mr. Roy Gomez, but there was no acknowledgment on their part. Therefore, the committee would seek the approval of the Office of the Speaker to issue a subpoena to the said personalities.”
