Press Release
September 5, 2007

ADDITIONAL PDEA BUDGET PUSHED

Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. today batted for an additional budget of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to further wreck drug syndicates which are said to be evolving new activities in the face of the strong anti-drug campaign of the government.

The senator stressed there should be an augmentation in the budget of PDEA next year so that it could have a more extensive campaign against the revolutionized production and marketing of illegal drugs in the country.

Based in the proposed 2008 National Expenditure Program, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) recommended a P597, 387,000 budget for PDEA next year. The said amount is P37, 380,000 lesser than PDEA's budget this year.

"Drug syndicates have new methods in the production and usage of their products to avoid apprehension, cut costs and gain more patronage. The government must allocate more in the budget to address this, or else the efforts of PDEA and other law enforcement agencies against drug syndicates would be worthless, "said Revilla, vice chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs and member of the Oversight Committee on the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Revilla pointed out the need for PDEA to hire new personnel after the pull-out last July of over 500 policemen detailed for the agency. He feared a slide in the anti-illegal drugs campaign in the country if these forces are not immediately replaced.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the Narcotics Groups from the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Bureau of Customs were abolished but their personnel were detailed with the PDEA. Detailed personnel were given five years to decide to join the PDEA but the agency lacks the funds to absorb all of them. Revilla said that 2007 International Narcotics Strategy Report of the US State Department cited the PDEA for its "continued aggressive efforts" to seize clandestine drug labs in Metro Manila. "That's why the price of shabu has more than doubled since 2005," he said.

The senator explained that clandestine laboratory operators in the Philippines are now using another production variation of shabu using red phosphorous instead of the usual combination of palladium, hydrogen gas and liquid chlorephedrine.

Aside from the shabu variant, drug syndicates in the Philippines use the veterinary anesthetic Ketamine as their newest product. Revilla also bared that the legally imported Ketamine is converted to the illicit crystal form from its legal liquid form in the Philippines and exported to other countries in the region. "They are using alternative ingredients to continue their operation. They are now making drugs which are not only eventually harmful but extremely lethal. A poison not only in the mind but also in the body," the lawmaker said.

The US Report further revealed that the lack of a functioning laboratory weakens the operation of PDEA and it has no adequate storage facility for evidence."There were reports about 1,906 kilos of shabu worth P3.8 billion allegedly stolen from its lab that's why the senate finance committee recommended for a zero budget for PDEA. It would be better for PDEA to be given an additional budget so that it can have a modern laboratory and facility for evidence analysis and secured storage," Revilla reasoned out.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently expressed concern over the spread of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in East Asia and the Pacific despite the intensified campaign by governments in the region. UNODC reported that abusers of methamphetamine in the said region have grown to some 39 million, representing 60 percent of total abusers worldwide.

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