Police renew drive vs abortion-inducing drugs, herbs

The Manila Police District (MPD) has renewed its campaign against sellers of abortifacients following reports that abortion-inducing drugs are once again openly sold in the Quiapo district.

MPD acting director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa launched the crackdown following an order from Manila Mayor Lito Atienza to ban herbal traders in the city.

"Let the axe fall on those who will be found violating the law," Atienza said in a statement issued by his office.

Earlier, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has apprehended six vendors of abortion pills and seized 79 Cytotec tablets, a regulated drug used for treating gastric ulcers but were used by pregnant women to induce premature bleeding that causes abortion.

The Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) has banned the irregular sale and illegal distribution of Cytotec following the reported deaths of women who used it to abort unwanted pregnancies.

Atienza, chairman of Pro-Life Philippines advocacy group, recently met with herbal traders in Quiapo and advised them to police their own ranks to make sure their members do not sell any abortion-inducing pills or concoctions.

The agreement was apparently violated with the arrest by the NBI of the six herbal traders last week. Atienza was reportedly "fuming mad" after learning about it.

"These vendors can easily dispose of 50 boxes of Cytotec a day in the Quiapo area alone," said NBI agent Roland Argabioso, head of the NBI unit that conducted the raid. Most of their customers were teenage students, prostitutes and married couples.

Enterprising vendors managed to discreetly sell the abortion-inducing drugs by hiding it among their herbal wares and bottles of menstruation-inducing concoctions, according to Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, chief of the MPD’s District Intelligence and Investigation Division (DIID).

Sapitula also blamed police officers in the Quiapo area for turning a blind eye. He also recalled that during his watch as commander of the Sta. Cruz police station prior to his stint as DIID chief, he was able to drive away herbal traders with daily arrests.

A syndicate, reportedly headed by a certain "Danny," has also launched a smear campaign against the policemen by claiming the arrests were part of extortion activities in exchange for their continued operation.

During Sapitula’s stint at the Sta. Cruz police station, around 30 vendors of abortifacient drugs and herbs were arrested and charged in court. Up to 480 Cytotec tablets and 375 bottles of menstruation-inducing concoctions were confiscated.

Quiapo parish priest Monsignor Pedro Ramirez even commended Sapitula and his men for their efforts. — With Evelyn Macairan, Janeire Elomina