MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has warned drug syndicates that his administration would prosecute them with the full force of the law.
According to the Chief Executive, the government will be relentless in holding them liable for illegal drug trading.
“Basta’t tuloy-tuloy lang kami. Aabutan namin kayo. Maliit lang ang Pilipinas,” President Marcos said in an interview in Alitagtag, Batangas on Tuesday.
He added: “Kahit sino man ang makita natin na may kasabwat sa drug trade, kahit politiko man, powerful politician, pulis o kung sinuman ay talagang iniimbestiaghan natin.”
he added.
President Marcos went to Batangas to inspect the inventory of the reported P13.3-billion worth of illegal drugs seized on Monday, said to be the biggest drug haul in the Philippines.
The President also said he was proud that the drug raid did not result in any injury or casualty, a far cry from the bloody “war on drugs” implemented by his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“I would like also to point out that this is the biggest shipment of shabu na nahuli natin, but not one person died. Walang namatay. Walang nagputukan, walang nasaktan,” Marcos said.
“In-operate natin nang dahan-dahan. Para sa akin, ‘yun ang dapat na approach sa drug war. Ang pinakaimportante is matigil natin ang pag-ship ng mga drugs dito sa pagpasok sa Pilipinas,” he added.
The President also noted the need for swift cooperation among law enforcement agencies of different countries as he disclosed that the seized methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as shabu, was shipped and has “high potency”, based on the tests done by the Philippine National Police.
“Kailangan talaga kayod. We have to operate. We have to gather intelligence. We have to coordinate with Interpol. We have to coordinate with intelligence and drug agencies of other countries around of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), of Asia, kung saan man nangagaling because this is an international crime,” Marcos said.
“Para…. napakahirap magpasok ng drugs sa Pilipinas...That’s the situation that we are hoping to achieve. Pero the only way to get back is to continue to prosecute the drug [lords] but well within the law…so that cases can be filed and the syndicates can be identified, the guilty parties can be arrested and eventually imprisoned. That is the point of what we are doing. That’s the only way to approach it,” he added./PN
