MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte was criticized for his apparent silence on the smuggling of shabu into the Philippines.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes wondered how Duterte could be angry at what he claimed to be a disadvantageous lease deal that Nayong Pilipino Foundation officials entered into but not say something about the shabu shipments that slipped past the Bureau of Customs.
“Galit na galit sa mga Nayong Pilipino officials si Duterte dahil sa corruption kuno pero tahimik siya sa mga taga-Customs na nagpalusot ng isang toneladang shabu,” Trillanes said.
Duterte fired last week the Board of Directors and the management of the state-run Nayong Pilipino for approving a “grossly disadvantageous” 70-year property lease contract with Chinese casino operator Landing International Development Ltd.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency meanwhile raided a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite and found four empty magnetic lifters reportedly used to smuggle into the country a ton of shabu worth an estimated P6.8 billion.
“Pangalawa na pinalusot nila iyan. Sino ba talaga ang tunay na drug lord na nagpapasok niyan?” said Trillanes, a fierce Duterte critic.
In 2017 Trillanes accused Duterte’s son, Paolo, and son-in-law Manases Carpio of smuggling into the country P6.4 billion worth of shabu from China through the Customs bureau.
The lawmaker also alleged that Paolo Duterte, former vice mayor of Davao City, belonged to a Chinese triad drug trafficking syndicate./PN
