“It has come to my attention again that Director General Aaron Aquino of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) was quoted saying in news reports that the drugs they recently apprehended from the NCR and other seizures in previous weeks and the drugs allegedly from the lifters in Cavite came from the same source.
“Citing its own conduct of analysis in its laboratory, the PDEA stated that the illegal drugs samples taken from the intercepted shipment at the MICP and those confiscated in some operations in Metro Manila and Mindanao are of ‘high similarity’ and thus ‘indicates strong correlation among them’.
“I am not supposed to issue statements regarding this matter out of respect to both the House of Representatives and the Senate which are conducting investigation regarding this matter.
“I always subscribe to my belief, being a former police officer, that assumptions, no matter how highly probable should be validated; that investigation processes must be respected and from there, make the necessary actions.
“But in the light of the series of statements noticeably and interestingly directed only against me, I am now forced to answer these issues not only to defend myself but also the good men and women of the Bureau of Customs who have been helpful and tirelessly working to comply with President Rodrigo Duterte’s tall order to make things right at the agency.
“Assuming that there are indeed indications of similarity between the intercepted drugs at the MICP and the confiscated illegal drugs in some operations, I would like to point out the following:
1. That the intercepted and confiscated 355 kilos of shabu at the MICP was the result of joint operations of BOC and PDEA, to which the PDEA compared the samples they obtained from their operation;
2. That the same illegal drugs were manufactured by an international drug syndicate which has been dumping illegal drugs in the country in the past years through a corrupt system which we now fearlessly fighting head-on;
3. That the scientific analysis made by the PDEA did not categorically answer the question on whether or not the four magnetic lifters indeed contain shabu. In fact, the basis of the comparison is from the more than 300 kilos of shabu which the BOC confiscated at the MICP.
“It is also interesting to note that there have been repeated attempts, which sadly happened while I am out of the country to address the issue personally, to insinuate that those illegal drugs confiscated in some operations in Metro Manila and Maguindanao are from the four magnetic lifters which were found in Cavite.
“Let me then emphasize that the shabu contained in lifters intercepted by the BOC at the MICP, consigned to Vecaba Trading, came from Malaysia, while the lifters consigned to SMYD Trading discovered in Cavite and which were found empty, came from Vietnam.
“The test conducted by PDEA then does not substantiate the PDEA’s claim that their recent shabu seizures are from those empty lifters found in Cavite since their basis is the MICP shabu substance which came from a different source.
“As public officials we have to be more prudent in giving information to the general public, especially concerning a matter this serious.
“In fact, public officials like us should not engage on public bickering, much more hurling unfounded allegations, since we are all supposed to be coordinating and working as one in order to achieve President Duterte’s dream, the Filipino people’s dream, of a drug-free Philippines.
“I will confront all these issues and make some announcements as soon as I get back to the country. For now, please allow me to have precious bonding moments with my mother, who is celebrating her 91st birthday.
“Thank you!” #
===========================================