About P1 million worth of illegal drugs were burned in public by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Thursday in the presence of a cross-section of the community.

The burning of the seized illegal drugs and paraphernalia was witnessed by provincial government officials headed by Gov. George Arnaiz.

PDEA regional director Supt. Amado Marquez Jr., and representatives from the Department of Justice, Public Attorney's Office, police crime lab, National Bureau of Investigation, police and the media were also present.

The activity is a requirement of law, under Section 21, of Republic Act 9165, which mandates the burning of confiscated and seized prohibited drugs within 24 hours upon filing of a criminal complaint in court. The confiscated illegal drugs consisted of 358 grams of shabu and 746 grams of marijuana with a street value of P1 million.

Presiding Judge Crescencio Tan Jr. of Regional Trial Court Branch 30 said the burning is undertaken to prevent possible recycling of evidences.

On the other hand, Arnaiz said he intends to put more teeth in the new law, if given the opportunity to be in Congress. He said the first thing he will do then is to file an amendment increasing the penalty for drug pushers.

Arnaiz pointed out that because of prohibited drugs families are broken, daughters are raped by their own fathers, brothers kill each other, and other drug-related crimes are committed.*JG

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