MANILA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Philippine anti-smuggling authorities have seized 780 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally called "shabu", prompting President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to order a thorough investigation, local media reported Thursday.

    The 72 boxes of "shabu" were confiscated from a Taiwanese fishing vessel docked at the Subic Bay freeport zone in northern Philippines on Tuesday, the Philippine Star said.

    The value of the seized dope was estimated at 2.34 billion pesos (54.4 million U.S. dollars), authorities said.

    One kilo "shabu" can be sold at Philippine streets as high as 3million pesos (69,800 U.S. dollars), the report said.

    A suspect who has been detained by the authority managed to escape, the report said, forcing the police to launch a massive manhunt.

    "Shabu" is the most widely used dope in the Philippines but the huge amount unearthed in the country's Subic freeport alarmed even the chief executive of the archipelagic state.

    Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita on Thursday said that the presidential palace was "dumbfounded" when it learned of the attempts to smuggle drugs through Subic.

    Ermita said President Arroyo, particularly concerned over the freeport's tarnished image, has ordered concerned agencies to trace the source of the drugs and launch "deeper" inspection of the port zones.

    Located 110 kilometers north of Manila, Subic Bay Freeport Zoneembodies the Philippines' first successful conversion of a veteran U.S. military base into a tax and duty free zone.

    Though it is less successful compared with counterparts in Hong Kong or Singapore, Subic Bay continues to be Philippines' major economic engines with over 700 investment projects, including South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction.