By WILLIE L. CATAPAT
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited yesterday afternoon an abandoned warehouse in Valenzuela City where over 100 drums of chemicals suspected to be ingredients in the manufacture of shabu were discovered while firefighters were conducting a probe on a fire in the city.
The President, accompanied by Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, top police officers of the Northern Police District Office (NPDO), and officials of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), commended those responsible for the find and exhorted police officials to continue their all-out drive against illegal drug syndicates.
Also at the party of the President were Deputy Director General of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Edgardo Aglipay, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director General Anselmo Avenido, and DILG Undersecretary for Peace and Order Marius Corpuz.
Local city and police officials, led by Vice Mayor Tony Espiritu and Senior Supt. Jose Marcelo, were also at the site during the President’s visit.
The President was briefed by Aglipay on the chemicals confirming that the substances are indeed ingredients in the manufacture of shabu.
Earlier, Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, upon learning of the discovery, immediately instructed Marcelo to conduct an in-depth investigation on how the illegal chemicals were transported to the city.
He assured, however, that the city government is on top of the situation and allayed fears that shabu laboratories are again finding their way into the city.
Chief Inspector Efren Yadao, Valenzuela City fire chief, said the chemicals were discovered after his men responded to a fire call at the warehouse.
They immediately contacted the police and sought the assistance of chemists from SOCO-NPD who confirmed that the chemicals were indeed shabu ingredients.
