DAVAO CITY — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) XI has designated the province of Davao del Norte as the epicenter of the Davao region’s illegal drugs trade due to its geographic location and multiple access points to different provinces in Mindanao.
Day in and day out, reports from different government law enforcement agencies show either alleged illicit drug traders/peddlers being apprehended or, if they fought back, killings taking place, and that’s the end of their tale.
The blotter of the Philippine National Police, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CDG), and even the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) all represent the same situation, and no one sees an end to the line.
“In Davao region, because of its geographical position and multiple borders from land to sea, Davao del Norte is the epicenter,” said retired Col. Antonio E. Rivera, the PDEA XI regional director, in an interview with Newsline on Tuesday, April 19, 2021.
Though illicit drug supplies in other areas range from weeds to meth in the region and ecstasy to valium in urban centers, whereas cocaine continues to arrive at various ports of entry, the weeds and meth are still prevalent in Davao Region and Mindanao.
The Davao del Norte highway connects the provinces of Bukidnon and Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Sur, the Zamboanga Peninsula, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as well as other Mindanao regions.
However, given the strict inspection at Task Force Davao checkpoints at every entry point to the city, supplies cannot easily enter Davao City.
“They would be forced to divert their supplies to other areas because of TF-Davao,” Rivera said.
The recent arrest of Melben Fuentes Rizaldo, aka Boss, a resident of Purok 11, San Vicente, Panabo City, Davao del Norte, by elements of Davao City’s Buhangin Police, Regional Drug Enforcement Unit-Eleven, Panabo City PNP, is evidence, according to Rivera, that collaboration among law enforcement agencies work well in their campaign against illegal drugs.
Rizaldo was apprehended after selling meth to a police officer who posed as a poseur-buyer. The meth had a market value of P135,000.
Rizaldo is just among the hoi polloi but have turned to illegal drugs trade for survival or force of habit and worse, turning the vice into an industry, which lead to his arrest.
The above described suspect hails from Panabo City, being the boundary and the gateway to Davao City leading to major Mindanao provinces, it could be that he is just a minute player in the gargantuan world of illegal drugs trade in Mindanao.
The shorelines of Davao del Norte sails up to Indonesia and even South China Sea as same water once led the abducted foreigners from Samal Island to Jolo, Sulu shore.
Because of its proximity to other Mindanao provinces and the sea, drugs are frequently dropped in Davao del Norte.
The coronavirus pandemic has had no effect on the illicit drug trade in the region; in fact, it has benefited from it, according to Rizaldo.
PDEA took a break, he said, “for a while because we needed to learn the new scheme given the protocol and we needed to be cautious because of the situation brought on by the pandemic”.
Other Cities in Mindanao
Drug entering the Davao region are cooked outside its doors, drug dealers criss-cross among tribe, culture and color, “because it is easy money,” Rivera described.
Waning, says Misamis Occidental Second District Congressman Henry S. Oaminal, when asked about the state of the drugs problem in his district.
Ozamiz was once dubbed as the ‘shabu capital’ of the province, but after the 2017 death of Reynaldo Parojinog and his cohorts in the hands of the police and other law enforcement agencies during the dawn raid which killed the Mayor and 13 others and the imprisonment of Vice Mayor Nova Parojinog, the city’s drug trade slowed down.
The Congressman, who is the father of Ozamiz City Mayor Sancho Fernando Oaminal said, “We can hear drug bust now but not as often as before, seized items are minute compared to kilos kilos before, people are aware, what government means in the fight against illegal drugs , the illegal drugs trade has tremendously curved.”
Ozamiz was once dubbed as the ‘shabu capital’ of the province, but after the 2017 death of Reynaldo Parojinog and his cohorts in the hands of the police and other law enforcement agencies during the dawn raid which killed the Mayor and 13 others and the imprisonment of Vice Mayor Nova Parojinog, the city’s drug trade slowed down.
“I cannot specifically tell the figure as to what percent, but I can say—people here have learned their lessons and local government units in my district have strengthened their ranks in the fight against illegal drugs.
Marawi City Major Majul Gandamra once said it hurts him to know that many illegal drugs are traced from his city but he said he never let his guards down “The fight against illegal drugs is ongoing and even stronger now, because some drug peddlers pass through our boundaries and sometimes enter our city for their illegal activities, a reason why we strengthen our campaign. I will not allow the illegal drug trade to flourish in my city”.
In Davao del Norte, Governor Edwin I. Jubahib described their campaign as massive, with more stringent measures “We need to work together given the geography, law enforcers here are working hard, we cannot let our guards down, we need to protect our people and our children’s future.”
Jubahib said part of his major platform is the fight against illegal drugs “And the messages are echoed down to the lowest unit of the barangays”.
Guarding the Borders
In guarding the borders of Davao City, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Bukidnon, the presence of Task Force Davao has played a vital role, not only in the anti-terrorism drive but also in the fight against illegal drugs.
From April 2019 to December 3, 2020, records of TF-Davao show that they apprehended 128 individuals trying to sneak 919.62 grams of ‘shabu’ with an assessed market value of P14,614,262.00.
The dealers
Profiles of suspected drug dealers arrested even surprise their friends, most of them are from families whose economic status could not even provide them the niceties of life, but tyhey have the luxury for drugs.
Rivera attributed the increase among illegal drugs peddler to the economic crunch “yong iba nawalan ng trabaho, they joined the illegal drugs trade to survive, which is a wrong trade”.
“They need money to survive that is why they resort to illegal drugs,” he added.
Miranda Rights
When asked whether the Miranda Doctrine is still read during an arrest, Davao City Police Director Police Colonel Kirby John Kraft responded affirmatively, as well as Rivera.
The Miranda doctrine stressed the right of the arrestee or any defendant to remain silent and to consult with a lawyer of his choosing.
The arresting officer must notify the arrestee of the reason for the arrest and, must show him the arrest warrant.
The arrestee shall be informed of his constitutional rights to remain silent and to counsel, and that any statement he might make could be used against him. The person arrested shall have the right to communicate with his lawyer, a relative or anyone he chooses by the most expedient means—by telephone if possible—or by letter or messenger, absence of this may lead to legal complications.
“Nanlaban”:
Rivera admitted his agency is task to dismantle at least 40 drugs dens in a year, as he proudly recognized the effort of his agency in delivering the expectations with clean hands.
Contrary to the general perceptions that a den is a sturdy structure or a nice building, PDEA describes a drug den as a structure either a shanty or an abandoned shelter rotten or not, where at least four people converge for their illegal activities.
As Col. Rivera and Col, Kraft talked about quota dismantling the illegal drugs trade and the method of achieving the goal, Newsline asked “Is there a quota how many collaterals, meaning lives will be lost, or killed?” to the same question, both official answered “No”.
“We do not kill, there are fatalities if they offer resistance to the detriment of our lives, in the execution of a legal order,” Rivera emphasized.
For Kraft, killing is the worse end “Kung talagang endangered na ang law enforcers if they offer violent resistance, mangyari yon, but we always follow the law.”
Collaboration, Rivera emphasized “Is the key, TF Davao, PNP the NBI and the CIDG, we work together for a common goal to save our people from the evils of drugs.”
“We can win the anti-illegal drugs war without bloodshed, patience, discipline, and professionalism is our guiding principle,” Yecla once said as they secure the borders 24/7.
For law enforcers and law abiding citizen, the war against drugs is protection for the next generation, but for those hard hit during operations, the illegal drugs war, for them, constitutes human rights violation.
But as citizens of this republic, the basic tenet is you are free to do within the ambit of the law.
