BACOLOD CITY – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Western Visayas destroyed 5,705.393 grams of illegal drugs worth P30,135,783 and drug paraphernalia at the Acropolis Gardens in Barangay Bata here on Wednesday, December 6.
THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Western Visayas presents illegal drugs worth P30.1 million confiscated in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental before thermal destruction at the crematorium of the Acropolis Gardens in Barangay Bata, Bacolod on Wednesday, December 6. (Glazyl Masculino)
A total of 4,346.4248 grams of shabu worth P29,908,835.66 and 1,358.9682 grams of marijuana worth P226,947.69 confiscated in various years here and in Negros Occidental were destroyed in the cemetery’s crematorium.
The destruction is pursuant to Section 21 (Custody and Disposition of Confiscated, Seized, and/or Surrendered Dangerous Drugs, Plant Sources of Dangerous Drugs, Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals, Instruments/Paraphernalia and/or Laboratory Equipment) of Republic Act 9165 or Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Police Col. Noel Aliño, Bacolod City police director, said that the law states that “after the filing of the criminal case, the Court shall, within 72 hours, conduct an ocular inspection” of the confiscated seized illegal drugs or precursor chemicals and “through the PDEA, shall, within 24 hours thereafter, proceed with the destruction or burning of the same,” provided, that a representative sample, duly weighed and recorded, is retained.
However, Adonis Abueva, chief of the PDEA-Western Visayas laboratory, said that their lawyer will file a prayer with the court to postpone the immediate destruction of the illegal drugs due to budget constraints of the agency. “Putting up an event like this is costly,” he said.
Director II Marjorie Ballesteros, assistant regional director of PDEA-Western Visayas, said they are fortunate that the owner of the facility allowed them to use the crematorium for free.
“As long as the temperature of the facility reaches 1,000 degrees Celsius, it guarantees that the illegal drugs will be destroyed,” she added.
The biggest haul of confiscated illegal drugs destroyed came from Bago City with 2,272.800 grams; followed by Bacolod City, with 836.9527 grams of shabu and 1,335.4642 grams of marijuana; 1,150.4734 grams of shabu and 23.5040 grams of marijuana in Kabankalan City; 64.2017 grams of shabu in Silay City, and 21.9970 grams of shabu in Himamaylan City. Most of these cases have been decided in court while there are those that are pending in court.
PDEA said that the standard drug price (SDP) of shabu is at P6,881.25 per gram while the SDP of marijuana is at P167 per gram.
Ballesteros said the objective of this activity is to erase the doubt of the public on drug recoveries.
“There’s no such thing as recycling of illegal drugs. As long as PDEA gets hold of these evidences, there’s really no recycling,” Ballesteros said, adding that the PDEA laboratory in the region has a strengthened security measure in keeping the evidence.
This was the second thermal destruction conducted by the regional agency this year, after Passi City, Iloilo, according to Ballesteros.
Acting Presiding Judge Amcel Mercader of Regional Trial Court Branch 62 in Bago City was one of the witnesses of the event.