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Thursday, June 02, 2005
2 houses searched for toxic chemicals
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- The Inter-Agency Task Force on Public Safety inspected two residential houses in Toril Tuesday afternoon for regulated and toxic chemicals and not for the illegal drug shabu.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 11 director Superintendent Wilkins Villanueva made this clarification in an interview Tuesday.
Villanueva said the inspection made at 97 Venus St., San Nicolas in Mangahan and on Apollo Drive, Teacher's Village were without search warrants issued by the court.
"Kaya hindi yun (It was not a) raid kundi (but an) inspection. Pinapasok kami ng caretaker eh so di na namin kailangan ng (The caretaker let us in so we did had no need for a) warrant. And besides di kami yung nanguna doon kungdi yung Inter-Agency Task Force," Villanueva said.
Authorities recovered several gas stoves, flasks, liquid chemicals, air compressor, water tanks, two drums of ethyl alcohol and one half gallon of sulfuric acid inside the two houses.
Villanueva revealed even before the conduct of the inspection, they were already aware that the "laboratory set-up" in the two houses was not capable of manufacturing shabu.
He said the reason they conducted the inspection was due to the presence of sulfuric acid, which is a regulated chemical, and carbon monoxide that is toxic.
The two laboratories are owned and operated by Davseatec Fishing Company and East Asia Fish Company, respectively.
Authorities believe the laboratories were temporarily set up inside the residential area since there was an ongoing renovation at the Daliao Fishport where the laboratories were originally located.
Villanueva said the two fishing companies were producing carbon monoxide using sulfuric acid and other chemicals to be used as tuna preservative.
He said though that the laboratories, set up at the residential area, violated several ordinances, on business permit, tax, zoning, and on keeping, storing and processing chemicals in a residential area without sanitary permit.
Inter-Agency Task Force chair Erwin Alparaque said the two companies could be penalized for their violations and their business permits cancelled.
Villanueva said they are also determining the culpability of both companies for violation of a Dangerous Drugs Board regulation that limits the monthly threshold on the volume of sulfuric acid to only 25 liters.
He said if they prove that the volume of sulfuric acid they recovered from the laboratories is beyond the limit imposed by law, then additional charges will be filed against the fishing companies.
On Tuesday, authorities ordered the two fishing companies to immediately transfer all the chemicals and equipment to the Daliao Fishport.
Davseatec manager David Hsu said they will readily comply with the order, saying their business is legitimate and that they have no plans whatsoever of manufacturing illegal drugs like shabu.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who visited the place Tuesday afternoon, refused to give any comment, saying he will wait for the official report from the task force before giving any statement.
He, however, confirmed "the solvent extracted from the apparatus inside the two laboratories is the same ingredient" used to make shabu.
(June 2, 2005 issue)
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