A public school teacher (right) is arrested after he was caught with .3 grams of suspected shabu during a buy-bust operation on Sept. 17, 2023, in Barili town. | Barili Police via Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — How did a public school teacher become a drug peddler?
Police Major Janus Giangan, Barili Police Station chief, said that he was referring to Glenn Pacaldo, who was a teacher of a public elementary school in Barili town in southwestern Cebu.
Giangan said in an interview, that they had already known about Pacaldo’s alleged drug habits since last year.
READ: Teacher, caught with P2,040 worth of shabu in Barili, arrested
Teacher started as a drug user – police
He said that they found out then that he was allegedly a drug user and they even invited him to surrender and become a drug surrenderer.
“Mogamit ra sa una ilang giawhag nga moapil sa surrender pero waa kay maolaw,” said Giangan.
(He was a user before and we invited him to join as a drug surrenderer, but he refused because he was ashamed to do it.)
Giangan said that with his refusal, they continued to monitor him and it was only at this time or a year later that they found out that he was allegedly into selling drugs.
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Turned to selling drugs
“Hangtod nga namaligya na ang ilang nahibal-an kay moadto naman og Cebu City para mamalit og shabu,” the police chief said.
(Until we found out that he was already into selling illegal drugs that he will even go to Cebu City to buy shabu.)
“Iyang mga baligyaan kaning mga adik pud nga taga didto,” he said.
(He will sell these to the drug users that live there.)
The police chief also said that while he was into allegedly selling illegal drugs, he was also actively working as a teacher in an elementary school in Barili town.
Giangan said that as far as he knew, Pacaldo worked as a teacher the whole year while they monitored him.
Pacaldo has then figured in the Barili Police Station’s watch list of drug personalities.
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High value individual
Giangan said that Pacaldo had become a high value individual.
“Duha ka bulto ra per week…ipack na niya daan inig check in nyas lodging house sa Cebu City,” said Giangan on how much illegal drugs Pacaldo could dispose of in a week.
(He can dispose of two packs of suspected shabu per week…he would pack them (into smaller packs) inside a lodging house in Cebu City.)
He said after monitoring Pacaldo for a while, they decided to conduct an anti-drug operation against the teacher.
Caught and jailed
Which the Barili police did on September 17.
Pacaldo was arrested at past 1 p.m. that day and he was caught with 0.3 grams of suspected shabu, and he was arrested.
The suspected shabu confiscated from the teacher had a market value of P2,040.
Giang an said that Pacaldo was detained at the Barili Police Station detention cell pending the filing of charges.
He said that the charges against the teacher would be filed tomorrow.
Giangan said that Pacaldo would be facing charges of selling and possession of illegal drugs.
Barili is a second class municipality of the Province of Cebu. It is located 62 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.
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