CEBU CITY – Seized illegal drugs valued at almost P300 million were destroyed here on Thursday, Feb. 13.

POLICE Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan, chief of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas, loads a pack of shabu into a thermal facility during the destruction of seized illegal drugs on Thursday, Feb. 13, in a funeral parlor in Cebu City. (Contributed photo)
A total of 41.86 kilos of shabu and 1.5 kilos of marijuana with a combined amount of P284,965, 915 were incinerated.
Included in the destruction through the thermal facility of Cosmopolitan Homes were the 25 kilos of shabu seized in the pier area here last month.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Central Visayas (PDEA-7) chief Alex Tablate said the destruction of the contraband was approved by the court.
Tablate said the destruction showed that persistent accusations that seized illegal drugs are being recycled are baseless.
“What we do is after the filing of cases, we immediately file a motion for immediate destruction of the confiscated illegal drugs,” Tablate said.
Police Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan, chief of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas (PRO-7), said the strong collaboration between the police and the PDEA led to the seizure of huge amounts of illegal drugs.
Maranan said the intensified campaign against illegal drugs will continue.
“This is our first destruction for 2025 and rest assured that our efforts will continue until the day that these drug syndicates will be gone and our communities are really safe from the harms and perils of illegal drugs," said Maranan.
Maranan said they will intensify its supply and demand reduction programs.
He admitted that drug users have become bolder that some of them are posting videos on social media showing them sniffing shabu.
Maranan appealed to the community, especially the media, to help in the fight against illegal drugs.
"Media partners, we are appealing to you that you help us change the mindset of our people. We can see on TikTok, Facebook, the pushers and users are very blatant. They even show themselves in a video clips that they are using drugs and fortunately, our law enforcers act fast. In a matter of days after those videos were posted, arrests were already made,” said Maranan.