Crime statistics tend to confirm Naga as 'hotbed of shabu' - Albayalde
By Roel Tibay
Published Aug 22, 2018 06:36 pm
By Aaron Recuenco
Nationwide crime statistics would show that President Duterte may be right in declaring that Naga City was a hotbed of shabu due to its consistent high crime volume since last year, according to Philippine National Police Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde.
PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde (PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Using police data he read a few hours after he refuted President Duterte’s statement that Naga City was a hotbed of shabu, Albayalde said that the city had been consistently been among the cities in the country with high crime volume.
“Let me share the information based on PNP data that among the major cities of the country, Naga City has consistently ranked number 5 in terms of crime volume in the first semester of 2017 and 2018,” said Albayalde.
“If the assumption that crime and drugs are interrelated, we can rightfully make our own decision,” he added.
Yesterday morning, Albayalde said that while shabu and other illegal drugs indeed exist in Bicol region, the presence of illegal drugs is also a problem in all other regions especially those with wide shorelines.
“I really don't know where the President got his information on that but as far as we are concerned, there are indeed drugs in Bicol region. (The same) in all other regions because of the shorelines,” said Albayalde.
By Albayalde’s description, a hotbed of shabu usually refers to the area where shabu mainly comes from.
“When you say hotbed, it’s like a source… meron talaga but not necessarily yung pinaka-hot,” said Albayalde.
The official said the President might have used the statement after shabu laboratories were dismantled in Bicol in the past years and that shabu were smuggled using the vast shorelines of the region.
“These were entered to the shorelines of Bicol but not necessarily Naga City. In the Bicol Region like in Camarines Sur, several kilos of cocaine were seen floating in the sea by the fishermen and this could be the information that reached the President,” said Albayalde.
But a few hours later, Albayalde held a press conference in order to clarify some of the statements he made, the first one was the statement wherein he was quoted disputing the President on the threats from the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency.
“On other matters, let me clarify that I never disagreed with President Duterte in his pronouncement regarding the drug and crime situation in Naga City,” said Albayalde.
In May last year, President Duterte sacked Dangerous Drugs Board chairman Benjamin Reyes for presenting figures that contradicted the Chief Executive’s statement that there are more than three millions drug dependents in the Philippines. The DDB figure that Reyes presented stated that there were only 1.8 million Filipinos hooked on drugs.
Aside from Naga City, Duterte also branded Cebu as another problematic area on the issue of illegal drugs.
According to Duterte, policemen assigned in Cebu were reportedly into the illegal drugs trade, an allegation which Albayalde agreed with and even went to the extent of linking two retired generals as the possible reason.
It was recalled that two of the alleged narco-generals identified by Duterte in the beginning of his term had connections with Cebu— retired police general Vicente Loot who is now the mayor of Daanbantayan town of Cebu, and retired police general Marcelo Garbo who was then the regional director of Central Visayas regional police.
“Those so-called narco-generals, one of them was assigned as regional director and we have information also that it was during that time or before the Duterte administration that most of the Cebu cops were engaged in extortion in illegal drugs,” said Albayalde.
“That’s the information that we got, that’s why there was purging from the regional director, provincial director to police chiefs and a lot of personnel in Cebu were charged,” he added.
But right now, Albayalde said the situation in Cebu has already improved due to aggressive drug war.
Interestingly, both Naga City and Cebu are the bailiwicks of the Liberal Party during the 2016 presidential elections.
PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde (PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Using police data he read a few hours after he refuted President Duterte’s statement that Naga City was a hotbed of shabu, Albayalde said that the city had been consistently been among the cities in the country with high crime volume.
“Let me share the information based on PNP data that among the major cities of the country, Naga City has consistently ranked number 5 in terms of crime volume in the first semester of 2017 and 2018,” said Albayalde.
“If the assumption that crime and drugs are interrelated, we can rightfully make our own decision,” he added.
Yesterday morning, Albayalde said that while shabu and other illegal drugs indeed exist in Bicol region, the presence of illegal drugs is also a problem in all other regions especially those with wide shorelines.
“I really don't know where the President got his information on that but as far as we are concerned, there are indeed drugs in Bicol region. (The same) in all other regions because of the shorelines,” said Albayalde.
By Albayalde’s description, a hotbed of shabu usually refers to the area where shabu mainly comes from.
“When you say hotbed, it’s like a source… meron talaga but not necessarily yung pinaka-hot,” said Albayalde.
The official said the President might have used the statement after shabu laboratories were dismantled in Bicol in the past years and that shabu were smuggled using the vast shorelines of the region.
“These were entered to the shorelines of Bicol but not necessarily Naga City. In the Bicol Region like in Camarines Sur, several kilos of cocaine were seen floating in the sea by the fishermen and this could be the information that reached the President,” said Albayalde.
But a few hours later, Albayalde held a press conference in order to clarify some of the statements he made, the first one was the statement wherein he was quoted disputing the President on the threats from the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency.
“On other matters, let me clarify that I never disagreed with President Duterte in his pronouncement regarding the drug and crime situation in Naga City,” said Albayalde.
In May last year, President Duterte sacked Dangerous Drugs Board chairman Benjamin Reyes for presenting figures that contradicted the Chief Executive’s statement that there are more than three millions drug dependents in the Philippines. The DDB figure that Reyes presented stated that there were only 1.8 million Filipinos hooked on drugs.
Aside from Naga City, Duterte also branded Cebu as another problematic area on the issue of illegal drugs.
According to Duterte, policemen assigned in Cebu were reportedly into the illegal drugs trade, an allegation which Albayalde agreed with and even went to the extent of linking two retired generals as the possible reason.
It was recalled that two of the alleged narco-generals identified by Duterte in the beginning of his term had connections with Cebu— retired police general Vicente Loot who is now the mayor of Daanbantayan town of Cebu, and retired police general Marcelo Garbo who was then the regional director of Central Visayas regional police.
“Those so-called narco-generals, one of them was assigned as regional director and we have information also that it was during that time or before the Duterte administration that most of the Cebu cops were engaged in extortion in illegal drugs,” said Albayalde.
“That’s the information that we got, that’s why there was purging from the regional director, provincial director to police chiefs and a lot of personnel in Cebu were charged,” he added.
But right now, Albayalde said the situation in Cebu has already improved due to aggressive drug war.
Interestingly, both Naga City and Cebu are the bailiwicks of the Liberal Party during the 2016 presidential elections.