Afraid of Duterte's crackdown, 23 drug users surrender to South Cotabato town police

SOUTH COTABATO — Scared by the pronouncements of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, 23 drug dependents surrendered to the Surallah municipal police in the past 10 days and vowed to start life anew.

Chief Inspector Joel Fuerte of the Surallah municipal police said he and his subordinates were amazed by what is for them a positive feat, something folks in South Cotabato province never witnessed before.

Fuerte first confirmed on Thursday the “voluntary surrender” one after another of the 23 drug dependents to a popular radio outfit, the Catholic station dxOM in Koronadal City, the provincial capital.  

He said some of the 23 men admitted selling methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu in their barangays.

Fuerte on Friday told reporters the suspects turned themselves in after the local police launched a crackdown on drug dealers in the municipality, an operation that resulted in the arrest of more than a dozen traffickers.

Fuerte said the 23 men admitted having been bothered by the threat of Duterte to flex his authority and use the police and the military in fighting the drug problems besetting the country after he assumes the presidency on June 30.

“Most of them want to undergo rehabilitation processes,” Fuerte said.