TRANSPARENCY OBSERVED. DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. (middle, in polo barong) explains the updated figures of the seized illegal drugs in a recent operation in Batangas, in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Thursday (April 18, 2024). Earlier reports said the amount of seized illegal drugs was at PHP13.3 billion but an update from the Police Regional Office (PRO) Calabarzon showed the amount decreased to PHP9.6 billion. (PNA photo by Lloyd Caliwan)
MANILA – Law enforcers exercised full transparency in accounting for the value of illegal drugs intercepted in a checkpoint in Batangas province earlier this week, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said Thursday.
In a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Abalos said the earlier reported quantity and amount of the drug haul at nearly two tons worth PHP13.3 billion was only an estimate.
However, the Police Regional Office (PRO) Calabarzon on Wednesday reported that the April 15 operation in Alitagtag town yielded a total of 1,424.253 kg. of shabu with an estimated street value of PHP9.68 billion.
“Paulit ulit ko sinasabi more or less dahil hindi mo talaga masasabi (I have been always saying 'more or less' because you cannot really identify). We just based it on experience of PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency), hanggang sa dumating ang ating Pangulo (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) ganun din ang nasabi niya, estimate (when the President arrived, it was the same amount that he said, an estimated one),” Abalos told reporters.
Abalos said this operation is one of the biggest drug hauls by the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard and PDEA, adding that he refuses to divulge further information as follow-up operations to hunt those behind the shipment are underway.
Meanwhile, PDEA Deputy Director General Renato Gumban said the amount involved in the operation was derived from "simple mathematics".
“As per estimate titingnan ang number of sacks, ilan average ang number of sacks, multiply tapos kunin mo average pero usually mga 1 kilo, estimate average multiply sa street value ng meth (methamphetamine) which is PHP6.8 million per kilo. Yun ang lumabas na figures (We look at the number of the sacks, how many sacks on average, multiply it and then you get the average. But usually, say for one kilo, the estimated average is multiplied by the street value of meth which is PHP6.8 million per kilo. Those are the figures that came out)," he said.
Meanwhile, Batangas Provincial Prosecutor Lourdes Zapanta said the decrease in the estimated value of drugs seized in the operation will not affect the case filed against the suspect.
“Sana po ang inyong pag-aalinglangan at pagdududa ay inyong alisin na kasi sinabi ng ating (DILG) secretary at ng mahal na Pangulong na ito ay (I hope you remove those uncertainties and doubts because our DILG Secretary and even our President said this is an) estimate so there should be no doubt, we are overwhelmed by the quantity of the drugs,“ she added.
PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, meanwhile, said they found a yacht and several vehicles in certain areas that might be linked to the drug shipment's transport.
He, however, declined to elaborate further to avoid jeopardizing ongoing investigations. (PNA)
