ALITAGTAG, Batangas (PIA) – Residents of Barangay Pinagkrusan are determined to strengthen their campaign for a drug-free community after authorities seized P13.3 billion worth of shabu at a checkpoint in Alitagtag town in Batangas.

Alfredo Mertola Jr., barangay chairman of Pinagkrusan, said the operation boosted the residents’ support for the anti-drug campaign. He added that it was the first time they had witnessed illegal drugs of such volume. 

“When the residents saw the large amount, they got scared because they had never seen so much [drugs] before. So it helped them support our anti-drug programs. We can rely more on the support of our neighbors after seeing this,” Mertola said.

He added that although their barangay is currently drug-free, they see the incident as an opportunity to strengthen their campaign against illegal drugs.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. personally inspected the approximately 1.8 tons of illegal drugs on April 16 and praised the operation for not recording any casualties.

The President said: “I would also like to point out that this is the biggest shipment of shabu that we caught, but not one person died or got hurt,” 

Marcos said that the authorities are investigating how the substance entered the country. 

“The one thing that’s clear: this was brought into the Philippines. These were not were not produced here. Now we are investigating how it came into the country,” the chief executive added.

The municipal government of Alitagtag praised the Philippine National Police for the big-time operation and believes that it has saved countless lives not only in their town but also throughout the entire country. 

“This is a huge help not only to the town of Alitagtag but to the entire Philippines because this seizure saved many lives. You can't imagine how many lives would have been ruined if this hadn't been caught by our police,” said Mayor Edilberto Ponggos. 

The President stressed that his administration will continue to pursue operations to curb illegal drugs, in cooperation with regional blocs and international agencies.

“We have to operate, gather intelligence. We have to coordinate with Interpol, we have to coordinate with intelligence and drug agencies of other countries around, of ASEAN, of Asia, because it’s an international crime.” 

The President added: “There is no other solution but to keep doing this until it’s difficult for syndicates to enter our country. The only way to do that is to continue to prosecute the drug war well within the law, so [that] a case can be filed and the syndicates can be identified, the guilty parties can be arrested, and eventually imprisoned.” (PB, MPDC/PIA-Batangas)