Prove P6.8 billion shabu slipped past ports, PDEA told

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday asked the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to present “hard evidence” that would support its claims on the alleged entry of P6.8 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) in the country.

Last week, PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said Bureau of Customs officials, including Commissioner Isidro Lapeña, should be held liable if it is proven that billions of pesos worth of shabu have slipped through Philippine ports. Aquino noted that officials are supposed to take the hit for the failures of their agency. 

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said PDEA should support its claim and do something to seize the illegal drugs that may have slipped past authorities. 

“The position of the President from the start is you have to produce hard evidence because the President is a lawyer. We are lawyers and we’ve been trained like that,” Panelo said. 

“If there is an allegation, give us hard evidence to back up your claim,” Panelo said in a radio interview yesterday. “If the PDEA thinks (illegal drugs have entered the country), then we have to do something about it.” 

Panelo said the PDEA could not just blame another entity after claiming that shabu had slipped through. 

Earlier, authorities found four magnetic lifters in Cavite that were believed to have contained about P6.8 billion worth of shabu. Last August, Lapeña told a congressional hearing that the magnetic lifters were tested negative for illegal drugs. 

But Aquino maintained that the lifters contained shabu, claiming that negative results from swabbing is not a fool-proof measure for determining the presence of narcotics.