ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Women have apparently made their niche in the usually male-dominated world of illegal drug trade, as more female drug pushers were arrested in the last two months, according to a recent report of the Police Regional Office-6.
From March 1 (the start of the Project Double Barrel Reloaded) to May 9, there were 190 persons arrested, 34 of them women, or almost 18 percent.
"Before, it's seldom that we could catch women into illegal drug pushing. Usually, they were arrested if they collude with their partners or husbands," said PRO-6 spokesperson Superintendent Gilbert Gorero.
But aside from the rising number of arrested female drug pushers, police operatives have also noted how emboldened they have been. "The big volume of shabu we recently recovered are from women pushers," Gorero said.
Gorero theorized that using women in illegal drug dealings could be a strategy for some syndicates. "With women, there are a few technicalities involved. Male anti-narcotics operatives could not just frisked them, as they might be accused of harassment," he said.
There is also this notion that women would be less likely to commit law infractions than men, Gorero said. "Recently, we have also tapped policewomen to be part of our drug enforcement units," he said.
On April 30, three women were arrested in two separate but related anti-illegal drug operations in Iloilo City. The shabu seized from the suspects — Jennie Bee Goriona, 37, Vivian Sian,37, and Susan Sobrepeña, 28 — had a street value pegged at P2.6 million.
On May 6, 42-year-old Josefina Doctora of Barotac Nuevo town in Iloilo — an Oplan Tokhang surrenderer — was arrested in a buy-bust operation at the town's Tabucan village after selling a sachet of shabu to a police poseur buyer.
On May 7, two elder women were arrested in separate operations. Pilar Selorio, 71, a resident Barangay Magancina, Sta. Barbara town was arrested at Zarraga, Iloilo, after she handed a sachet of shabu worth P1,000 to an undercover agent. When frisked further, she yielded more shabu worth about P43,000.
At around the same time, the police also arrested Milalyn Reposar, 50, a resident of Jaro district in Iloilo City, who was caught in possession of eight sachets of shabu. (FREEMAN)