MANILA. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lauded the police for their seizure of the largest haul of methamphetamine in years on Tuesday, underlining the operation’s lack of casualties as a subtle critique of his predecessor’s deadly anti-drug campaign.
Authorities confiscated nearly 1,630 kilograms (1.8 tons) of methamphetamine on Monday from a van at a checkpoint in Alitagtag town, Batangas province, south of Manila. The driver was apprehended, with ongoing intelligence operations aimed at capturing other suspects, officials disclosed without further details.
Dubbed locally as shabu, the potent stimulant held a street value exceeding 13 billion pesos ($228 million), officials confirmed.
Addressing reporters in Alitagtag, where he showcased the seized drugs, Marcos emphasized, “This is the biggest shipment of shabu that we’ve seized, but not one person died. No shots were fired and nobody was injured because we operated slowly.”
He added, “This should be the approach in the drug war for me, and the most important objective is to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs into the Philippines,” noting that the recently confiscated drugs originated from abroad.
Since assuming office in mid-2022, Marcos has pledged to continue the anti-drug campaign initiated by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, albeit with a different approach that prioritizes rehabilitating drug addicts.
During Duterte’s tenure, more than 6,000 suspected drug dealers, mostly from impoverished backgrounds, were reported killed in clashes with law enforcement. The high death toll drew condemnation from Western nations, including the United States, and triggered an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court for potential crimes against humanity.
Although Marcos’ administration has reported considerably fewer drug suspect killings, human rights organizations remain concerned about continued violence and urge cooperation with the ICC to probe killings under Duterte’s presidency and his tenure as mayor of Davao city.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
