The local market value of "shabu" or methamphetamine hydrochloride—also called "poor man's cocaine"—has jumped so high that it is now almost equivalent to the price of actual cocaine.

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Monday, Sep. 8, that this was due to the government's continued fight against illegal drugs, which are mostly imported.

From P3,800 per gram during the Duterte administration, shabu prices have now reached at least P6,800 per gram.

Remulla, during the House hearing on the agency's proposed 2026 budget, said the Marcos administration focused on fighting the supply side of illegal drugs and not on the consumption side.

This tightened up local supply to the point that it has nearly doubled the street value of shabu.

"The purity of that is at 7 percent and the supply now is getting very limited. That's why the supply, the prices are very high," he said.

"The price of shabu now is so high that on a 7 percent purity scale, it's in the same price range as cocaine," he added.

The cost of shabu--particularly during the Duterte administration--was lower since drugs confiscated during raids were resold by cops, according to Remulla.

"The PNP (Philippine National Police) was notorious for recycling the drugs. So for, every, I estimate that, for every one ton that would be confiscated, 900 kilograms would go back to the market at that time," he said.

Remulla believed that the higher price of shabu caused its usage to have gone "down significantly".

"Although there will be naysayers about what I'm about to say: we have the statistics to prove that crimes against property and persons have declined sharply in the last seven months, and we attribute that to a more benign, but more effective war on drugs," he said.

Remulla said the Philippines' yearly consumption of shabu is around 16 million tons, "and all are 100 percent smuggled in through our ports and through our coastal waters".