Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. reiterated on Tuesday, April 30, that there were no irregularities during the multi-billion peso drug bust conducted by authorities in Alitagtag, Batangas.
In a presentation during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs presided by Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, Abalos categorically denied that there was any pilferage during the operation not only due to photos he showed, but because there were several media personalities who were already on the scene.
"Open to the public po ito, wala pong tinago ang kapulisan dito (This was open to the public, police hid nothing here)," Abalos said.
He also praised the police operatives who conducted the operation who, according to him, not only worked tirelessly but also risked their lives.
"Ibang klaseng mga tao ito, hindi mo masabi yung safety ng pamilya nila yung safety nila (These are different kinds of people, you cannot assure the safety of their families, their own safety)," he added.
At the end of his presentation, Abalos committed to continuing their fight against illegal drugs.
Abalos has earlier emphasized that the inventory was conducted in front of civilian witnesses and concerned authorities even as the entire process and procedure was recorded on video cameras.
On Monday, April 15, government anti-narcotic operatives seized what was initially estimated P13.3 billion worth of illegal drugs during an intelligence-driven checkpoint along the highway in Barangay Pinagkurusan.
In the Wednesday, April 17 press briefing, Abalos declared that the total weight of illegal drugs seized was 1,424.253 kilograms in the said operation.
The DILG did not specify the actual worth of shabu confiscated after the initial estimated value was announced but pointed out that the current market price of a kilogram of shabu is P6.8 million.
Meanwhile, Dela Rosa said in a press conference that he's convinced with the explanation of Abalos as well as the Philippine National Police (PNP) and that he sees no motivation for them to jeopardize the operation.
"Talagang mali lang yung estimate nila, napakalayo ng estimate. Siguro naoverjoy lang sila na malaking hulog ng langit na accomplishment yun, naoverstimate nila para maganda talaga na accomplishment ang lalabas pero lumabas naman tlaga ang totoong weight (They just really made a mistake with their approximation, the estimate was too high. Perhaps they were overjoyed because this was a huge accomplishment, they must have overestimated for it to appear as a great accomplishment but the actual weight came out at the end)," he added.