Trying to be consistent with his anti-drug campaign, Senator Manny Pacquiao has filed Senate Resolution 843 seeking an investigation into the smuggling of the methamphetamine hydro chloride (shabu) with estimated value around P6.8 billion according to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
“It really angers me”, (referring to drug smuggling), Pacquiao said. This also prompted him to renew his call for the imposition of the death penalty on high-level drug traffickers.
He went on, “I fee like – if we arrest those who smuggled those drugs, line them up with the huge drug haul in front of the people and be executed by firing squad,” Pacquiao told reporters.
The boxing senator exasperatedly explaining, “I prefer firing squad to set an example to foreigners who bring drugs into the country. Can you imagine, we’re two years into the war against drugs and they brought in P6.8 billion in shabu.”
Pacquiao further said, “that while President Rodrigo Duterte was so aggressive on his war on drugs, “drug syndicates seem to have maintained links with government officials or employees who willingly facilitate the entry of contraband into the country.”
He added that this is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed and yet there seems to be lack of coordination among the BOC, PDEA and the Philippine National Police.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III renewed his call for Malacañang to create the presidential office on drugs and crime to improve coordination and swift operations in the anti-illegal drug campaign.
Since the aggressive start of Duterte’s war against drugs, observers do not see big fish who are involved in drug smuggling and peddling get persecuted and killed. Also the proliferation of Chinese coming to the Philippines are blamed for the continuous drug supplies in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Duterte dismissed as pure speculation the claim of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on the P6.8 billion worth of shabu in magnetic lifters recently recovered empty in Cavite. He further said, “that it was negative of methamphetamine hydro chloride residue.” This was also complimented by Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Isidro Lapeña when he said, “Based on the result of the laboratory analysis both from PDEA and the PNP, the four magnetic lifters have no presence of dangerous drugs.”
However, Lawyer Ruel Lasala of PDEA, however, stood by its report and insisted that the four magnetic lifters had traces of illegal drugs because their K9 dogs sat down as they sniffed the lifting equipment, signifying that the dogs had identified traces of illegal drugs.
Read: No proof that P6.8-B shabu was in lifters, President Duterte
Despite the entry of P6.8 billion worth of shabu in the country, President Duterte still trusts Lapeña.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that smugglers have new ways of bringing in contraband. He said the new modus operandi made the detection of drugs difficult. Roque added, “It shows that our enemies in the war on drugs are really sophisticated because they use magnetic lifters that the x-ray cannot detect.”
