During the media forum “Balitaan” organized by the Capampangan in Media, Inc. (CAMI) in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) at the Bale Balita here on Friday, Magalang, Pampanga Mayor Malu Paras-Lacson narrated details on how authorities were able to uncover the well-hidden underground shabu laboratory used as a research and development facility of the illegal drugs syndicate which was capable of producing 30 to 100 kilos of shabu per week when it was busted.
Lacson said the warehouse seemed to have a building permit but defi nitely not the underground laboratory because only Chinese nationals were allowed to get inside.
“Somehow I am happy with happened because we have no capacity to detect that,” she rued.
The mayor said Dennis Letran, the registered owner of the property, has fi ve other piggeries in Magalang which he sub-leases to others. The piggery farm which had an underground shabu laboratory was leased to a certain Jay Wong who applied for a business permit, according to the mayor.
She said Letran is not from Magalang and had earlier “questioned my decision on the closure order of his farm which he elevated to the local chief executive that is why his operations are still continuing up to now.”
Lacson said based on PDEA informants, the place was under surveillance for two months.
She said a PDEA agent applied as a helper in the piggery and was hired. The undercover agent was described as “retireable age” so for two months, the agent worked there as hog feeder and carry sacks of feeds. But he really got overworked because he is not used to doing manual labor, she recounted.
“So he called PDEA and started complaining and he said he will resign if the raid will not happen soon so that sparked the raid which was already ripe for execution,” Lacson narrated.
Lacson said a reliable indicator of the illegal shabu laboratory was the piggery’s electricity consumption which ballooned from only P13,000 to P30,000 and then hiked to a staggering P90,000 in the last three months respectively. “And they even have a back-up generator because according to PDEA, a laboratory facility cannot operate without suffi cient and stable electric power supply because they have dryers, centrifuge, hydrogenator and even air conditioning.”
The mayor said the Pampanga Electric Cooperative will render a report on their electric consumption.
But two weeks before the raid, there was already a complaint from farmers in the area before the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) because their crops (palay) are dying, she said. “The farmers are complaining,” she added.
The effl uents coming from the laboratory is really dangerous to crops and they were left wondering why only the area surrounding the piggery was damaged, she said.
“So they conducted a public hearing last week and that Susan Wang (alias Ate) appeared before the body. So they were interrogated by the councilors that’s why they scheduled an ocular inspection this week by the committee on environment,” Lacson said.
“So at 8:30 am on that day, the committee went there but they were not bringing any order because they felt that they can come in anytime since they are municipal councilors but they were denied entry and left,” she added.
One hour later, the PDEA raiding team came in, the mayor said. She added that the committee was assisted by San Ildefonso Barangay Captain Marcial Alfaro.
Lacson said they saw the facility for the fi rst time after the raid. The underground shabu laboratory was a rectangular room, kitchen type lab complete with a fi ltration system and air conditioning; there was fi nished shabu, there was lique- fi ed shabu for drying, glass apparatus and other equipment.
“We believed they are ready for big production because they already reached the right formula because we saw several huge containers there,” she said.
The registered owner, Jay Wong, has a 2014, 2015 and 2016 business permits which meant he was operating for two years now, she said.
Lacson said PDEA NCR director Wilkins Villanueva told her the laboratory is more of a research and development facility and the Chinese chemist must be trying to fi nd a direct formula on how to produce high grade shabu. Lacson said according to Villanueva, there are fi ve groups in the syndicate composed of the recruitment group who were in charge of bringing in Chinese nationals; the R&D; the manufacturer; marketing group; and the retail and distribution system.
Meanwhile, in the light of the illegal drugs raid, Lacson said the local government unit (LGU) will now create an Inspection Team with representatives from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for the farms and livestock, Department of Health (DOH) for health issues, Bureau of Fire Protection, Assessors Offi ce, Business Permit and Licensing Offi ce (BPLO), Mayor’s Offi ce, SB, municipal Environment and Natural Resources Offi ce (MENRO), Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offi ce (MDRRMO), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“We need this so that we can see personally the permittees,” she said.
“It is our obligation when we issue a permit that we know who the permitee is,” she added. “The Inspection Team will conduct regular and spot checks of all business establishments,” she said.
Livestock problem
Lacson said she is now faced with a problem of livestock in the piggery after the raid that total 4,038 heads where 2,145 are piglets, 857 growers, 660 fi nishers, 359 sows and 17 boars.
She said there are 12 Pinoy workers all from the Visayas who still did not received their salaries since last week. The mayor said she talked to the farm workers to continue with their work and promised to pay them double from the proceeds of the sale of the livestock.
Lacson said she consulted Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda who advised her to seek legal opinion.
She said she sought legal opinions from three lawyers but they all have dissent ting opinions on what to do with the livestock. Even the offi ce of the DILG provincial offi ce seemed to be at a lost on what to do, she said.
Finally, she said it was established that the livestock is “not proof of the crime” and therefore can now be disposed because it threatens public health with a mortality rate of 10 pigs per day.
She said she had obtained certifi cations from the Municipal Health Of- fi ce and a report from DA as to the danger to public health and status of the livestock.
Lacson said she invited representatives from the DA to witness the sale of the livestock. Otherwise, she said, she is contemplating of dispersing the piglets to residents of the barangay to help them in their livelihood.
Meanwhile, the three children of the Wang couple, Alvin and Susan, and two other children were turned over to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development (MSWD) who took them to Haven in Barangay San Vicente, Magalang which is a house for abused and battered wives and children. The Wang children: a girl age 13, a boy 12, and a girl 11 years old; and two other boys age 10 and 9 from another parent were also brought to the doctor for medical examinations.
