By Jennifer P. Rendon
Police Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido, head of the City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU), said Wednesday that Bacolod can be considered a “shabulized area” in the meantime what with the series of anti-narcotics police operations that yielded big volume of illegal drugs.
But it seems that Espenido might have uttered a rather sensitive statement without the go signal from the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 in Iloilo City.
On Thursday, PRO-6 spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong was asked about Espenido’s statement.
“As far as we’re concerned, the term shabulized is not in our parameters,” Malong said.
Instead, PRO-6 opted to regard Bacolod City as an “area of concern” when it comes to illegal drugs in Western Visayas.
By considering it as an area of concern, Malong said they have three considerations.
“First, because of the monitored illegal drug activities in the area,” she said.
The second consideration is the number of watch-listed illegal drug groups and personalities who are operating in Bacolod City.
Third, the amount of confiscated illegal drugs pointed to the severity of the anti-illegal drugs problem in Bacolod City compared to other areas in Western Visayas.
“In fact, a lot of those arrested in Iloilo City and other provinces in the region claimed that they sourced their supply in Bacolod City,” Malong said.
Records showed that BCPO seized P73,031,459.20 worth of illegal drugs from January to December 2019. The figure includes 6,083.026 grams of shabu valued at P72,996,312 and 152.8139 grams of marijuana worth P35,147.20.
Despite these factors, PRO-6 said the shabulized term from Espenido might be his own personal assessment.
“He saw the situation in the area that might have led him to make that pronouncement,” Malong said.
During a press conference after his vacation abroad, Espenido urged the people to speak and tell the authorities the source of the illegal drugs in Bacolod.
Citing information gathered from suspects arrested in other areas outside Negros, Bacolod City appears to be the main source of illegal drugs.
“Kayo sa Bacolod, magsalita kayo kung saan galing ang drugs. Hanapin natin,” he said.
Espenido said he can operate even outside Bacolod if he wants to go against drug personalities.
“Sana mag-stop na sila. Nakatikim na kayo ng experience na mayaman. Kasama kayo dapat sa war against illegal drugs to go against your protectors in the government,” he said.
Despite the police’s intensified campaign on illegal drugs, Espenido said that drugs still exist here.
“Iyon ang dapat nating malaman, kung hanggang kailan,” he said.
He said there’s no timeline to fully eradicate drugs here but police will do their best.
“Si God lang ang nakakaalam. We must do our best and God will do the rest,” he added.
Earlier, authorities denied that Bacolod is the source of illegal drugs, claiming that contrabands are sneaked in the city because Negros Occidental is a transhipment area. Drug peddlers take advantage of the island’s vast shorelines to evade authorities.
