NO TRACE of illegal drugs was found in the final residue of P9.4 billion worth of illegal drugs burned in Capas, Tarlac during an event led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. last week, according to the presidential palace, citing a report from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Authorities said all four ash samples had tested negative for crystal meth, marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy, it said in a statement on Sunday.
The tests, which included chemical analyses backed by photographic documentation, were conducted to ensure scientific validation and accountability in drug disposal.
Last week, Mr. Marcos witnessed the chemical testing of random samples from more than 1,500 kilos of seized drugs before their incineration at Clean Leaf International Corp., a waste management firm in the northern Philippine province of Tarlac.
Among the narcotics destroyed was a large cache of methamphetamine recently recovered by fishermen off the coast of northern Luzon.
The government is advocating for a “balanced, humane and evidence-based” campaign against illegal narcotics, citing the need to gain public trust in the government’s enforcement efforts.
Mr. Marcos on Tuesday touted his government’s “bloodless” war against illegal drugs, noting that about P62 billion worth of crystal meth had been seized since he started in office in June 2022.
The confiscation prevented the illegal drugs from being peddled on the streets, sparing countless Filipinos from addiction, he said during an inspection of recently recovered drugs along the coast of northern provinces worth P8.87 billion.
“We saved many of our countrymen,” he said in Filipino. “If these got circulated, many more people will get addicted, many more will die of overdose and many more lives will get destroyed.”
During the inspection at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City last week, the President said the contraband, which weighed more than 1,300 kilos, were found by local fishermen floating in the sea from Ilocos to Zambales provinces in the country’s north.
No cases have been filed, and not one suspect has been apprehended in connection with the floating drugs.
Authorities remain uncertain about the origin of the drugs or the identities of the smugglers, citing the lack of direct evidence or witness accounts.
The President inspected the illegal drugs as he renewed his government’s push for a “bloodless” but relentless campaign against the illegal drug trade.
The President reaffirmed his directive for law enforcement agencies, including the PDEA, Dangerous Drugs Board and Philippine National Police to sustain their crackdown on narcotics syndicates, but under a rights-based framework.
“It has been described as a bloodless war on drugs, and this is what we are aiming for,” he said. “But nonetheless, despite the fact that we do not kill people that are just suspected of having anything to do with drugs… we are handling the drug problem in a different way.”
His predecessor Rodrigo R. Duterte is now under the custody of the International Criminal Court and will be tried in September for crimes against humanity in connection with his drug war that killed thousands of drug suspects. — CMAH
