In Quezon, ‘shabu’ is dirt cheap, says gov

LUCENA CITY—The law of supply and demand is being proven right as far as the drug trade in the province of Quezon is concerned.

Gov. David Suarez said “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) is being sold for as low as P50 per “hit” in parts of the province.

Suarez said after comparing notes with fellow governors in Southern Tagalog on illegal drugs, he learned that the so-called poor man’s cocaine is being sold cheapest in his province.

This, he said, shows only one thing—abundant supply of shabu.

“We need a clear plan from the police,” the governor on Wednesday told officers and men of the provincial police force, led by Senior Supt. Eugenio Paguirigan, officer-in-charge of the Quezon police.

He said the cheapest price of shabu in other provinces in the region is P100 a hit, referring to a granule of shabu that is enough for one user.

A source in the police intelligence community said the street cost of a gram of shabu ranges from P9,000 to P11,000.

Police reports said shabu being sold in Quezon came from Cavite province and Metro Manila.

Suarez said a survey commissioned by the provincial government recently showed that the illegal drug trade is the fourth biggest concern of residents. Poverty is first, lack of jobs second and high prices of goods third.

Another survey conducted last year, however, showed that illegal drugs have jumped to become second in rank among residents’ concern, the governor said.

He questioned a recent police report on illegal drugs that placed the number of villages, where drugs are prevalent, at only 300-400 out of 1,242.

“I could not believe that data because that is not the reality we see,” Suarez said.

Paguirigan said the Quezon police would revalidate the data, which were based on figures submitted by village officials.

To illustrate the spread of the drug menace, Suarez said village officials in Bondoc Peninsula which, he said, had no illegal drug problem in the past are now reporting that drugs are being sold in their areas.

Drugs have infiltrated even the ranks of provincial government employees as shown by results of random drug tests, Suarez said.

Police, he said, should make the war on drugs its priority.

Paguirigan said police would take up the governor’s challenge, “but the battle against the drug menace is not the sole responsibility of the police.”

“We also need the support and cooperation of different sectors,” he said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

One of the programs that the police force would launch, he said, is one called “Kapitbahay-Bantay Ko-Sagot Ko,” which would tap neighborhoods’ help in the war on drugs.

The program seeks to encourage neighbors to cooperate with each other in efforts to secure their communities against crimes and drugs.