P’sinan drugstore owner yields fake drugs

ALAMINOS CITY — Agents of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) arrested a drugstore owner here after a raid on her pharmacy the other day yielded P100,000 worth of counterfeit drugs and 100 tablets of Valium.

Chief Inspector Cristopher Abrahano, PDEA regional director, told The STAR that the suspect, Julie Galang de Guzman, 34, owner of Cristia Med Drugstore, would be charged with violation of Section 11 of Republic Act 9165 for possession of Valium, classified as a dangerous drug, and violation of RA 8203, a special law on counterfeit drugs.

Galang is a sister of Calasiao Vice Mayor Ferdinand Galang.

Abrahano said they were tipped off that Galang’s drugstore was allegedly selling Valium, a sedative whose generic name is diazepam.

After a successful test-buy without a doctor’s prescription, the PDEA applied for a search warrant with the Alaminos regional trial court.

Abrahano said De Guzman’s arrest should serve as a wake-up call to drugstore owners not to sell this drug without the proper license from the BFAD.

Cristia Med Drugstore is the first pharmacy in Pangasinan found to be selling the sedative without the proper license.

Aside from Valium, 70 other medicines mostly from Pakistan and Indonesia were seized during the raid.