President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to a “bloodless” war on drugs, ordering law enforcement agencies to sustain the peaceful yet strong campaign against illegal narcotics.
Speaking during his inspection of over P1.3 tons of seized shabu at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) headquarters in Diliman, Quezon City, on Tuesday, June 24, Marcos noted that the government’s recalibrated strategy is yielding positive results.
“The new concept of the war against drugs is working. So, we will continue down that vein. And I think we are beginning to see the good effects of that new policy,” Marcos said.
The President stressed that his administration continues to aim for a “bloodless war on drugs,” instructing the police to go after large drug syndicates as well as the small-time peddlers.
“And I continue to encourage all the Drug Board authorities, the PDEA authorities, and of course, the police that we must continue with the war against drugs. But we keep it in a peaceful – we do it in a peaceful way,” he said.
“It has been described as a bloodless war on drugs. And this is what we are aiming for. But nonetheless, despite the fact that we do not kill people that are just suspected of having anything to do with drugs, imbis na ganoon ang ginagawa natin, we are handling the drug problem in a different way,” he added.
He further said that they are also strengthening the prevention and rehabilitation, including “high police presence at the lowest level.”
“[W]e are beginning to see some measure of success. Kaya ipapagpatuloy natin ito,” Marcos said.
DISPOSAL
In the name of transparency, Marcos invited the media to watch the testing and destruction of the seized shabu.
He said it intends to show that the old practice of destroying only a portion of the seized drugs and bringing back the remaining illegal drugs to either black or street markets is no longer happening.
“So, what we will do now ay titiyakin natin ay ang proper disposal nitong mga drogang ito para hindi babalik sa black market. Hindi babalik sa street market. Basta hindi na lalabas, sisirain na natin, Marcos said.
The 1,304.604 kilograms of shabu with an estimated street value of P8.8 billion are set for destruction through thermal decomposition. These drugs were found floating in the waters off the provinces of Zambales, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Cagayan.
Aside from shabu, another 226.043 kgs of assorted dangerous drugs worth about P609 million that were intercepted during separate operations are also scheduled for destruction under court orders.
According to PDEA Director General Isagani Nerez, the contraband will be destroyed within 24 hours at a location to be announced later, following completion of the inspection.
Marcos said in the last three years, his administration has been able to interdict P62 billion worth of methamphetamine. (Betheena Unite)
