‘More suspects in P6.8 billion shabu shipment to be unmasked’

MANILA, Philippines — More persons will be unmasked in the controversial P6.8-billion shabu shipment once the House committee on dangerous drugs resumes its inquiry into the issue, an administration lawmaker said yesterday. 

Committee chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte commended the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for identifying four officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) as among those allegedly behind the illegal drug shipment. 

“From the previous hearings of the Senate and the House, we were able to expose the skeletons in the closet. In the next House hearing, we will surely uncover more,” Barbers said. No date has been set for the next hearing. 

Barbers expressed confidence that “new information will expedite (the) investigation.” 

“I commend the PDEA for uncovering and bringing to light these scalawags. Honestly, it didn’t come as a shock as I am certain that there are more of them out there,” he said, as he stressed the need for a massive revamp of concerned law enforcement agencies. 

He said there should be a “total shakeup” in the PDEA and the PNP, as well as in the perennially graft-ridden Bureau of Customs “to cleanse these agencies of misfits and rogues.” 

“It is equally alarming that those who are supposed to implement the law are the ones violating it. Once we identify more of them, we can solidify and strengthen the campaign on the war on drugs,” Barbers said. 

PDEA chief Aaron Aquino confirmed they have been able to identify four more policemen, after resigned Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban was implicated, along with dismissed PNP Senior Supt. Eduardo Acierto and former PDEA-National Capital Region (NCR) chief Ismael Fajardo. 

NCR Police Office Director Guillermo Eleazar didn’t deny the allegations. 

Thorough probe

Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is urging the government to thoroughly probe officials tagged in the illegal drug smuggling.

“It is most concerning that while the campaign against illegal drugs sits at the heart of this administration’s governance agenda, it is also the frontline government officers-in-charge of the anti-drug drive that are allegedly involved in the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said.

De Guia issued the statement after Aquino tagged his deputy in the controversy involving the empty magnetic lifters found in Cavite in August.

During a hearing of the House committee on dangerous drugs last week, Aquino told lawmakers that Fajardo has been sacked due to his alleged involvement on the matter.

He said Fajardo and Guban appeared to have knowledge that hundreds of kilograms of shabu would be shipped into the country prior to the discovery of the magnetic lifters.

De Guia said the alleged involvement of the two officials should be thoroughly investigated by the government. 

“The commission has observed a rising death toll possibly linked to the campaign against illegal drugs, apart from the other human rights violations such as illegal arrests and breaches in due process. Most victims are small-time peddlers and users belonging to poor communities,” she said. 

“While we have yet to hear arrests of large drug syndicates, we hope that investigation into this newest allegation yields the truth, which will allow us to demand greater accountability from erring officials and put better sense in the government’s role of promoting and protecting the human rights of all,” De Guia added. – With Janvic Mateo