A WHOPPING P8.55 billion worth of illegal drugs have been seized by law-enforcement authorities this month alone, while most of the country is under a general community quarantine (GCQ), Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Archie Gamboa said on Monday.
Gamboa said the seizure was part of the 2.05 tons of shabu with an estimated amount of P14 billion that was recovered since the government launched the eight-month offensive against illegal drugs beginning in October last year.
Last week alone, the PNP has carried out a total of 25 anti-illegal drugs operations, where seizures were made around the country that include the nearby province of Bulacan.
Gamboa issued the report as the country enters another phase of lockdown in relation to the government’s response to control the spread of Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the PNP chief said that they have already recorded 671 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the PNP, which represent 1.9 percent of the total nationwide cases recorded by the Department of Health.
“A total of 342 personnel…have since recovered from the infection with 211, or 62 percent, completely recovered and have been restored to fit-to-work status, while 131, or 38 percent of recovered PNP patients, are awaiting completion of the required quarantine period,” he said.
The PNP chief said that currently, the PNP has 320 active cases, of which, 287 are in quarantine facilities for mild to moderate cases, 18 are in hospital bay, while 15 are under home quarantine.
On the other hand, the PNP has also listed nine deaths out of the pandemic.
Among the regions, the National Capital Regional Police Office has posted the highest number of confirmed cases with 285, and 450 probable and 89 suspect cases.
Although the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 in Central Visayas has only 169 confirmed cases, it has 694 suspected cases and 156 probable cases.
“This is the reason why we had to deploy augmentation forces to Cebu. The PRO 7 may have to adapt rotational deployment of its frontline personnel in lockdown areas because its effective strength will be depleted when some personnel will need to undergo quarantine,” Gamboa said.