PRESIDENT MARCOS: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the press. Nandito nga tayo, nandito tayong lahat dahil merong–para makita at mapakinggan at makapag–makakuha ng report tungkol sa itong nagyari na pagkahuli nitong pagkalalaki-laki na shabu na shipment.
Ang estimate baka umabot ito ng 1.8 tons, so ang ibig sabihin, ito na ‘yung pinakamalaking huli na nagawa natin. But that way–hindi lang ito, meron na tayo, as of today, ang huli natin is already 13 point something, 13.2, 13.3 tons.
So, patuloy talaga, marami talaga tayong nahuhuli. At yan–this is the approach that we are taking to the drug war. Ang ating ginagawa, we take apart, binabaklas natin yung mga sindikato, kahit sinuman ang nakita natin may kasabwat, may kasabwat dito sa drug trade, kahit sinuman, kahit pulitiko ba na powerful politician, o pulis, o kung sinuman ay talagang pinag–iniimbestigahan natin kaya’t, kaya nagkaroon ng ganitong klaseng mga operation at nakahuli tayo ng kalaki-laki na 1.8 tons.
Sa ngayon, I’ll just to give you a status report. I–as you can see, ang ginagawa ngayon iniimbentaryo talaga kung gaano kadami itong nahuli na meth. Nakapagtest na ang PNP, tinest na ‘yung nahuling shabu, very high quality itong nandito, very high potency, ibig sabihin.
‘Yung mga pinanggalingan, kung saan pa ‘yung mga–kung saan nanggaling, kung saan sinakay, anong origin, e ngayon ay iniimbestigahan pa lang, kaya’t the operation is ongoing at pabayaan muna natin ang ating mga kapulisan, and with altogether with the attached agencies ng PDEA and Dangerous Drugs Board, lahat were working together para mabuo ang kaso rito. Malaman talaga natin kung saan dinaan itong shipment ng shabu na ito.
I would like also to point out that this is the biggest shipment of shabu na nahuli natin, but not one person died. Walang namatay, walang nagputukan, walang nasaktan. Basta’t inoperate natin ng dahan-dahan, ‘yun naman dapat ang approach. Para sakin, ‘yun dapat ang approach sa drug war na ang pinaka-importante is matigil natin ang pagship ng mga drugs dito sa pagpasok sa Pilipinas. Pero the one thing that’s clear, pinasok ito, hindi ito galing dito sa Pilipinas. Hindi, hindi, hindi ito niluto dito sa Pilipinas, galing ito sa labas.
Ngayon ‘yung ruta kung saan nanggaling ‘yun, ngayon ay pinag-aaralan pa natin at iniimbestigahan pa. Alright, okay, any questions?
Q: Mr. President, Good afternoon…
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Hello, good morning.
Q: Yes sir. Sir, ano po ‘yung instruction nyo sa ating mga law enforcement agencies like PNP and PDEA, kasi with this apprehension, tila hindi natatakot ang mga drug syndicate na i-transport ang mga illegal drugs kahit may mga checkpoint. Babala niyo na lang din po sa mga drug syndicate na hindi tumitigil sa kanilang illegal drug activities sa bansa. Thank you.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, ang–kailangan rin maintindihan, ang mga drug syndicate na pagka nahulihan–parang cost of doing business nila ‘yan e. Naka— kasama na sa kalkulasyon nila ‘yan eh. Once in a while mahuhuli tayo, so, ito— pero malaki pa rin ang kita. So, tuloy- tuloy lang, we cannot— there’s no— ang tinatawag na one single answer tungkol dito, there’s no silver bullet to this.
Kailangan talaga kayod. We have to operate, we have to gather intelligence, we have to coordinate with Interpol, we have to coordinate with the intelligence and drug agencies of other countries around,of ASEAN, of Asia, kung saan man nanggagaling because it’s an international— this is an international crime.
So, we have to keep— there’s no other solution but to keep doing this. Na kung pasok sila nang pasok hanggang it is not—para magawang napakahirap magpasok ng drugs na sa Pilipinas, wag na nating gawin, dadalhin natin sa ibang lugar.
That is the situation that we are hoping to achieve. Pero the only way to get— the only way to get that is to continue to prosecute the drug war and— well within the law, well within— so that the cases can be filed and the syndicates can be identified, the guilty parties can be arrested, and eventually imprisoned. And that is the point of this— what we are doing, that’s the only way to approach it.
Pahirapan talaga ‘yan. Tingnan ninyo, tayo nasa Pilipinas, tingnan ninyo ang problema, sabihin na lang natin, “kasi wala tayong resources, wala tayong funding na masyado”, tingnan ninyo kahit ‘yung mayayaman na bansa sa America, sa Europe gaano ka-trillion-trillion na dolyar ang kanilang ginagastos, mayroon pa ring drug problem.
Kaya’t tayo ganoon din, wala tayong ibang puwedeng gawin kung hindi sige lang nang sige, just keep going, just keep going, ang kapulisan naman natin ay nasanay na rin sila at alam na rin natin— alam na rin nila kung papano’ng sistema kung minsan, eh ino-operate— basta we just keep operating and keep gathering intelligence. And that’s the key to bringing down the drug— the activities of the drug syndicates dito sa Pilipinas.
Q: … niyo sir, sa mga drug syndicate?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Ano? Ano?
Q: ‘yung babala niyo po sa mga drug syndicate na hindi tumitigil sa kanilang ano…
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Ay, hindi ako nakikipag— bahala ka, bahala kayo sa ginagawa ninyo basta’t tuloy-tuloy lang kami, aabutan din namin kayo. Maliit lang ang Pilipinas.
Q: Thank you, sir.
Q: Good morning, Mr. President. Sir, what’s your— will government po change tactics on this government war on drugs following this incident? And are you alarmed by this biggest drug haul in the country?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: 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.
So, it’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.
And that’s the reason I think that so far we’ve been able to see such a big amount of generally shabu or methamphetamine.
Yeah. So, we’ll just keep going, we just keep doing what we’re doing.
Q: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Thank you. Maraming salamat.
P/MAJOR LUIS DE LUNA JR.: So, magandang umaga po sa ating lahat. Kay— sa ating mahal na Pangulo, sir; sa lahat po ng narito.
Sa ngayon po hindi pa po kami makakapagbigay ng eksaktong detalye ng pangyayari kung paano naming nasabat itong ganito kalaking halaga kasi umuusad pa rin po ‘yung aming imbestigasyon.
Ano po, ayaw po naming makumpirmiso ‘yung mangyayaring— hangga’t maisampa po naming ‘yun kaso laban po doon sa tao.
‘Yun lamang po at maraming salamat po.
Meron po kaming regular na checkpoint na isinasagawa po dito sa bayan ng Alitagtag. So, as part of intensify the crime prevention. So, part of it fina-flag down po naming ‘yung mga sasakyan kung medyo suspicious po, ‘yun po, sina-subject po namin for inspection po.
So ‘yun po, kagaya po ng nangyari kay dito po sa pangyayaring ito, ‘yun po ang naging resulta, nasabat po naming ‘yun ganito kalaking halaga po ng shabu po.
—END—
