Remulla denies drug menace worsened under Marcos

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Monday disputed claims that illegal drugs had become more prevalent under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. than during former President Rodrigo Duterte, citing rising shabu prices and drug seizures.

Remulla said shabu now costs P6,800 per gram, up from P3,500 during Duterte’s presidency. “Shabu did not go down under Duterte’s time. Make no mistake about it. It did not go down,” he said in a television news program.

He said authorities had seized more than 17 tons of illegal drugs since 2024 through operations at sea, airports and ports.

He also estimated that about 80 percent of illegal drugs entering the Philippines passed through Mindanao, including via roll-on/roll-off vessels and smaller ships that allegedly drop cargo at sea for collection.

Recent seizures have underscored the trafficking threat.

Laotian authorities seized 521 kilograms of suspected shabu worth about P3.5 billion from a private jet reportedly bound for the Philippines on 1 October.

Terrorists?

Authorities in Thailand also intercepted a separate shipment of more than a ton of shabu reportedly headed for the country, while Philippine Customs seized 73 kilograms worth P496.4 million concealed in industrial machinery shipped from Mexico.

Remulla said the government was considering tighter monitoring of suspected smuggling routes, improved airport security and stronger prosecution of drug cases.

He also called for stricter laws governing drug prosecutions and urged Congress to consider classifying drug syndicates as terrorist networks, arguing that this would help authorities trace their finances and strengthen international intelligence-sharing.

“We need to reform our laws about the prosecution of drug cases,” Remulla said.

He said suspects often escaped conviction because of technicalities and that a terrorist-network classification could help authorities track financial transactions involving transnational drug groups.

“As long as the Philippine Congress certifies that they’re a terrorist network by virtue of a resolution, then it opens us up to the international communities, intelligence sharing, especially with financial matters,” he said.

“We’ll be able to see all their bank-to-bank transactions, making it easier to crack down on them,” he added.

Death penalty

A Filipino national, Fahad Mulok Dibarosan, was arrested in connection with the Laos shipment.

Philippine authorities have identified 11 persons of interest, including former Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament member Edriezan Hadji Nasser Rimbang, whom Remulla identified as the alleged financier.

Remulla said he personally supported reinstating the death penalty for major drug traffickers but acknowledged that the move could affect the Philippines’ cooperation with other countries, particularly in Europe.