Alleged marijuana plantations sprouting in remote Kalinga village

May 27, 2018

BAGUIO CITY-- In February 2017, the Philippine National Police (PNP) declared Kalinga province drug-free. Recently authorities have been raiding reported marijuana plantations in remote areas of the province.

On Friday, agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Cordillera and local police raided a reported 800-square meter marijuana plantation in Barangay Loccong, Tinglayan and burned P9,022,000 worth of marijuana.

Authorities raided 11 alleged marijuana farms in Barangay Buscalan, also in Tinglayan, covering a total of 5,180 square meters. Some 41,910 pieces of marijuana plants valued at P8,382,000 were burnt,

On the second week of May, another P8.7 million worth of alleged marijuana plants were razed in Tinglayan.

Regional PDEA operatives in the Cordillera, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley, boosted by local police, raided five alleged marijuana plantations in Barangay Tulgao East and torched 36,050 ,000 fully-grown plants and 3,000 pieces of marijuana seedlings with a total value of P8,730,000.

Over several months, authorities overran marijuana plantations after burning over 80 marijuana plantations two years ago.

Cordillera police said government operatives continue to comb remote villages in the town and around Kalinga.

Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac cited economic reasons behind “illegal agriculture”.

“The problem is, everytime they burn or uproot, the seeds spread. Residents say when it rains, the seeds grow," he said.

Baac denied villagers within the Mt. Chumanchil complex in Tinglayan, are into marijuana plantations.

But PDEA-Cordillera authorities said they had been overrunning small makeshift huts in the plantations indicating an effort to tend these illicit farms. DMS