Press Release
June 27, 2009

CHIZ URGES CRACKDOWN ON FOREIGN FUNDERS OF DRUG RINGS

Opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday called on government authorities to crack down on drug syndicates based in the country starting with "foreign investors" who fund the large-scale manufacture and operations of illegal drugs such as methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

"We have to attack the drug problem at the source, which is the funding, manufacture, and distribution of illegal drugs. Unless we go straight to the source, we will never truly eradicate the drug menace in the country," Escudero said.

The 39-year old senator said the drug problem threatens the youth sector in particular, which is seen as the primary target market of drug syndicates.

"While government agencies like the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency continue to do their job, we believe a more calibrated campaign is needed to solve the problem," he said.

Escudero noted that agencies like the Bureau of Immigration, the Bureau of Customs, and even the Bureau of Internal Revenue have to be more active in pinpointing "drug investments" in the country.

"We are looking at organized crime on a massive scale here. Our law enforcers can continue to make arrests every hour of everyday but if the sources of these drugs are left unchecked, we will never make any substantial headway in the anti-drug campaign," he said.

Escudero noted that the problem has now taken on an international dimension after reports came out that the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) identified the Philippines as a global shabu giant.

The UNODC's 2009 World Drug Report said the Philippines now ranks fifth in the world in methamphetamine seizures from 1998 to 2007, next only to China and the United States, countries with much larger populations, and Asian neighbors Thailand and Taiwan.

"This report should alarm our government and prod it to act immediately. The Philippines has become a hub for international drug syndicates, and we are now being cited as a manufacturing center and distribution hub for shabu and other types of illegal narcotics," Escudero said.

"There should be no compromise when it comes to the problem of illegal drugs. We have to pinpoint the sources and shut them down. Only then can we truly say that we are addressing the problem squarely," the senator added.

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