Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers has appealed to law enforcement agencies to swiftly destroy all seized illegal drugs to prevent drug pilferage and its recycling into the illicit market.

Barbers — who also chairs the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs — stressed this move as he filed House Bill 9668, mandating incineration facilities, including crematoriums, to dispose of narcotics seized during anti-drug operations to put an end to the unscrupulous scheme of drug recycling committed by some erring cops.

"Failure or refusal to render free destruction of any seized illegal drugs by the concerned facilities would be a ground for the suspension, revocation, or non-renewal of license or permit to operate," Barbers said Sunday.

HB 9668, or the proposed Prompt Dangerous Drugs Destruction Act of 2023, mandates the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to spearhead the designation of the cremation facility that would undertake the drug destruction process.

The facility must be nearest to the court having jurisdiction over the case or to the place where the dangerous drugs were seized.

Under the measure, the actual destruction of drugs will be witnessed by PDEA personnel, an elected public official, a representative from the National Prosecution Service, a representative from the media and a representative from civil society groups.

To recall, Barbers' panel has been conducting its probe into the drug raid in October of last year, in which 990 kilograms of recycled shabu valued at P6.7 billion was seized from dismissed Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo's lending company's office in his own building in Tondo, Manila.

Back in March, the committee also launched a motu proporio into the PDEA's alleged scheme of giving its police assets a portion of illegal drugs seized as a "reward" for their successful operations.

Two informants disclosed during the panel's executive session that the PDEA and the Philippine National Police would hand them basura, or shabu, every time their tips led to an arrest, which can range from 30 to 70 percent of the haul.

The assets confirmed that over the past 20 years, the drugs hauled, seized and confiscated had been recycled.

In late September, about 530 kilos of "shabu" worth P3.6 billion was seized from a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, which, according to Justice Secretary Boying Remulla, was the biggest catch so far under the Marcos administration.

Also, in August, authorities recovered 200 kilos of shabu worth P1.3 billion found abandoned in a car parked at a supermarket in Mabalacat City, Pampanga.

On 20 October, Barbers, along with other House leaders, who were behind the congressional probe on the entry of massive shabu in the country, witnessed the burning of about P6 billion worth of confiscated illegal drugs by PDEA in its facility in Trece Martires City, Cavite.

The illicit drugs were seized in the Manila International Container Port in early October, and the others were retrieved illegal substances used as shabu extenders in Mabalacat City.