PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, August 14, dismissed as "pure speculation" the claim that the four magnetic lifters found in Cavite may have contained around a ton of shabu, or methamphetamine hydrochloride.
The President was referring to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Aaron Aquino's claim that the illegal substance may have already been distributed since the magnetic lifters were empty when these were discovered by authorities on August 9 in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.
"I think the latest bust was from Taiwan. But I'd like to address myself to all the government agencies, 'yung sabi nila na (they said that) they found the metal, but they opened it, there was none," the President said in a speech before the business community attending the launch of the Pilipinas Angat Lahat program of Go Negosyo.
"It was pure speculation. They were assuming that for those metal, magnetic [lifters], contained [illegal drugs]. So there was nothing there," he added.
Read: More magnetic lifters found in Cavite
On August 10, Aquino said he based his statement on the behavior of the K-9 units upon inspection of the magnetic lifters.
The four magnetic lifters were found three days after two magnetic lifters abandoned at the Manila International Container Port yielded about 500 kilos of shabu worth P4.3 billion.
On August 11, Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña admitted that there was an information gap between the PDEA agents and the Customs officials over the discovery of the empty magnetic lifters.
Earlier Tuesday, Lapeña told a House panel investigating the alleged P6.8 billion worth of shabu that may have again slipped past the BOC that the magnetic lifters tested negative of illegal drugs based on their swab testing.
Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde, on August 13, also issued a statement saying the PDEA's claim still needed to be verified.
The contradicting claims of these three government organizations did not escape Duterte, who said Tuesday that he preferred not to meddle in the rift.
He said that all he could tell them was "better luck next time."
"And even the government agencies are already quarreling among themselves because they want really to do something about it. And for that, I do not intervene. I let them quarrel publicly. And then I just say, 'Do your job. Better luck next time,'" the President said.
Duterte reminded the PDEA to avoid speculating, unless they have sufficient evidence.
"They just assumed that they were there at that warehouse but there was no shabu inside," he said.
"I am not convinced. So next time, you do not go into a speculative content. So you must be very sure that you have the goods. You cannot speculate...Criminal law is very exacting," he added. (SunStar Philippines)