While the P13.3-billion drug haul in Batangas was deemed the biggest in the Philippines' history, President Marcos said no life was sacrificed to make it successful.
"I would like also to point out that this is the biggest shipment of shabu na nahuli natin (that we have seized), but not one person died. Walang namatay, walang nagputukan, walang nasaktan (No one died, no one was shot, no one was wounded)," Marcos said as he led the inspection of the seized 1.8 tons of shabu in Batangas on Tuesday, April 16.
This kind of drug war, Marcos said, is what his administration wants to keep pursuing to eventually shut the door for the entry of drug shipments in the country.
He stressed that it must be the approach in solving the country's drug problem, veering away from bloody war on drugs.
"Basta’t in-operate natin ng dahan-dahan, yun naman dapat ang approach. Para sa akin, yun dapat ang approach sa drug war na ang pinaka-importante is matigil natin ang pag-ship ng mga drugs dito sa pagpasok sa Pilipinas (We operated it slowly, that must the approach to take. For me, that must be the approach on drug war, what's important is to stop the shipping of drugs into the Philippines)," Marcos said.
He also noted that the intercepted 1.8 tons of shabu clearly did not come from the country and were not manufactured locally.
Asked if the large-scale drug shipment prompts him to change his ways of addressing the drug problem in the country, the President maintained that he will keep employing a drug war that focuses more on prevention and rehabilitation.
"No, quite the contrary, why will we change? Look at the success that we have gained. As I’ve said, not only this 1.8 tons, the many, many tons that we have already seized," he said.
"[I]t’s much more than it has been in the past. So, it is the most successful approach to the drug war so far. So, why will we change it? We won’t change it; we’ll continue to do what we are doing. Of course, I cannot explain to you every--- the details of what we are doing but we will continue to do what we are doing," he added.
Marcos led the inspection of the estimated P13.3 billion worth of illegal drugs seized from a recent drug bust in Barangay Pinagkrusan, Municipality of Alitagtag in Batangas on Tuesday.
The illegal drugs were uncovered from a van after it was flagged down on an intelligence-driven checkpoint operation on Monday, April 15.
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