Levi Ortiz (seated 2nd from left), PDEA-7 director, during the press conference conducted after the destruction of the dangerous drugs on Tuesday, November 29.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — If the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) has its own thermal incinerator, it could hasten the destruction of seized illegal drugs.
This is what Levi Ortiz, PDEA-7 director, is hoping for after Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia vowed to help them procure a thermal incinerator.
“Karon nikuan man si Governor, ni-express man siya og support to provide us with one so mao nay atong gipaabot karon”, Ortiz said.
“Ato na gi-submit didto and the Governor approved for its procurement…I think next year na guro kay i-order paman na sa gawas”, he added.
Ortiz said that while waiting for the procurement, they have been partnering with Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes Inc., which allows them to burn their seized illegal drugs for free.
However, Ortiz admitted that they will still depend on the availability of the establishment’s machine.
Ortiz said that there are other private entities that offer this service, however, they need to pay for it.
“If naa tay thermal incinerator then kung naay court order makaderetso ta og destroy sa illegal drugs. Kung wala like this one mo-request pa ta sa Cosmopolitan, we are very glad naay ingon ani nga business nga ni-cater sa ato for free pero mao lagi depends upon the schedule. Og naa na tay incinerator anytime nga naa nay court order makasunog dayon ta sa dangerous drugs nga di na magdugay sa atoang evidence room”, Ortiz said.
For him, when they have their own incinerator, they can allocate more funds for their illegal drug operations because they don’t have to spend money to pay for the burning of drugs.
Ortiz also revealed that before burning these illegal drugs, they need to secure court orders first.
Earlier on Tuesday, November 29, they destroyed P256.4 million worth of illegal drugs, such as shabu, dried marijuana leaves, nubain, and ecstasy tablets.
This is the second such operation that they conducted this year, he said.
Since Ortiz assumed office last June 15, 2020, they had a total of seven drug destructions, including today, which is so far the biggest destruction that they had conducted.
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