SOME 110,000 pieces of fully-grown marijuana plants, estimated to be worth P22 million, and 50,000 grams of marijuana stalks worth P6 million, were burned by authorities in Kalinga Province on Friday, July 9.
No arrest was reported during the operations.
The burning of the marijuana was conducted by elements of the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, the Tinglayan Municipal Police Station, the Kalinga Provincial Police Office , and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Kalinga.
According to a report submitted to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Police General Guillermo Eleazar,the fully-grown marijuana plants were torched in an operation in a 5,500-square meter marijuana plantation in Barangay Loccong in Tinglayan Municipality, Kalinga province.
Eleazar vowed marijuana eradication operations would continue as part of the PNP’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs, especially now that the Duterte administration’s war on drugs only has a year to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs.
“Makakaasa ang publiko na patuloy ang operasyon ng pulisya, katuwang ang PDEA, sa pagsabat at pagsira ng mga taniman ng marijuana. Hindi lamang sa Cordillera Administrative Region ang aming pokus, pati ibang lugar ay ating binabantayan para mapatigil ang produksyon at bentahan ng marijuana,” Eleazar said.
Meanwhile, during the marijuana eradication operations, still unidentified persons shot at the authorities. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident.
Investigation is ongoing to identify the suspects who fired shots at the law enforcers and the cultivators of the plantation.
(PHOTO CREDIT: PNP-PIO)