Asean-China drug seminar kicks off

Philippine National Police chief Arturo Lomibao is confident a better and intensified campaign would be launched against illegal drugs in the country and other Asian countries in the future.

This after a three-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs seminar workshop formally opened yesterday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.

In attendance are representatives from the 11 Asean members such as Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

"It brings Asean countries and China in the table so that we can have more harmonious relation, more synergy, more cooperation to fight drugs. The subject of the seminar workshop is on drug demand supply reduction," Lomibao said.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, the keynote speaker during the opening ceremony, acknowledged the fact that the drug problem has no boundaries, encouraging the participants to go beyond their territorial borders in their drive against the drug trade.

She said the proliferation of illegal drugs is a "colossal, multi-faceted and complex problem," but "hope is essential for we can't afford to despair."

The seminar workshop will include the highlights on drug demand reduction, progress report on drug situation in the region, presentation of the 2004 National Household Survey on the Nature, and Extent of Drug Abuse in the country.