PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday oversaw the destruction of over P9.48 billion worth of illegal drugs, including those found floating on the shores in the northern part of Luzon.
The President witnessed the testing and burning, held at the at Clean Leaf International Corporation in Barangay Cutcut, Capas, Tarlac, of the 1,304.604 kilograms of floating packs of shabu valued at P8.871 billion that were discovered by fishermen floating off the waters of the provinces of Zambales, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Cagayan.
Also burned through thermal decomposition were 411.3708 milliliters of liquid shabu; 138.8177 kilograms of marijuana; 0.1230 kilogram of MDMA (molly) or ecstasy; 3,917.4099 grams of cocaine; 232.6 grams of toluene; 0.8020 gram of lidocaine; and assorted expired medicines.
The President said he wanted to personally witness the destruction of illegal substances to ensure they would not make it back to the streets. It also reflected his administration’s firm commitment to transparency in its ongoing anti-drug campaign.
“Nais kong makita kung ano ba talaga ‘yung buong sistema mula sa pagkahuli ng mga droga, tapos sa pag-testing, tapos finally sa pag-destroy sa mga nahuling drugs (I want to see the whole system from the confiscation of the illegal drugs, to the testing, and finally the destroying of the seized drugs),” Marcos said.
“Dahil kailangan tiyakin natin na ‘yung mga nahuhuling drugs ay talagang sinisira at wala ng pag-asa na bumalik pa, na maibenta pa, na makuha, ire-report (because we need to ensure that the confiscated drugs are really destroyed and none would be reused, sold and reported again),” he added, hinting at previous reports that confiscated drugs end up being resold in the streets.
The President said the entire destruction procedure takes approximately 24 hours, with both the incineration and cooling stages lasting 10 to 12 hours each.
Marcos said that once it has been burned, it would be cooled to check if everything is destroyed. It would be burned again if there were still some substances that had not been destroyed.
The prohibited substances were incinerated at 1,000 degrees centigrade inside a chamber. All chemical compounds of the substances were completely decomposed or broken down as a result of the tremendous heat.
PDEA Director General Undersecretary Isagani Nerez, in a statement, said the destruction activity was in response to the President’s order to destroy all shabu finds as quickly as possible, with nothing spared.
“The destruction process was made in full transparency and in compliance with the requirements of the law on the custody and disposition of seized dangerous drugs. PDEA kept under close watch until the drugs were completely reduced to ashes,” Nerez added.
PDEA said the practice now is to have the illegal substance destroyed shortly after it is confiscated and documented.
It added that drug exhibits were no longer required as court evidence, allowing for their prompt destruction following the resolution of related cases.
Among those who joined the President in the event were Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla; National Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Año; Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Secretary Oscar Valenzuela; PDEA Chief Nerez; and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Nicolas Torre III.
Also present were Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Deputy Commandant Vice Admiral Edgar Ybañez; Northern Luzon Naval Command (NLNC) Commodore Edward Ike De Sagon; National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Office I Regional Director Atty. Joel Tovera; Tarlac Governor Susan Yap; and local officials of Barangay Cutcut II and Capas town.
Before the event, the illegal substances were presented to the President at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City last Tuesday.
Marcos had then directed the PDEA, PNP and the other law enforcement agencies to sustain a peaceful and bloodless war against illegal drugs.
“Patuloy nating pinapalakas ang kampanya sa bloodless war on drugs. Sa pinakamalaking drug haul sa kasaysayan, libo-libong buhay ang nailigtas sa kapahamakan ng adiskyon (We continue to strengthen the campaign in the bloodless war on drugs. In the largest drug haul in history, thousands of lives were saved from the scourge of addiction),” the President said.
“Hindi tayo titigil sa pagpapatibay ng prevention, rehabilitation, at pagpapatupad ng batas para masugpo ang kalakalan ng droga sa lahat ng antas at mapanatiling ligtas ang ating mga komunidad (We will not stop strengthening prevention, rehabilitation, and law enforcement to curb the drug trade at all levels and keep our communities safe),” Marcos added.
Police seized P61,200 worth of suspected dangerous drugs and arrested a man in a buy-bust operation in Rodriguez, Rizal, last Tuesday.
Col. Felipe Maraggun, Rizal provincial police office (PPO) director, identified the suspect as alias Ernie, of legal age, and a resident of Kasiglahan Village, Barangay San Jose, Rodriguez, Rizal.
Seized from him were six pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing more or less 9 grams of suspected shabu. – With Christian Oineza
