Estrada convenes summit to address drug menace

Alarmed by the rising number of drug dependents in the country, President Estrada convened yesterday some 2,500 government officials from Luzon to once and for all address the growing menace of illegal drugs.

The one-day National Anti-Illegal Drugs Forum at the Philippine International Convention Center was dubbed as the President's Valentine gift to Filipino families. The event was attended by local mayors, police, court and jail officials as well as leaders of anti-crime groups who all denounced the evils that drugs bring to society.

The event's theme was "A Drug-Free Society: The President's Gift of Love to the Filipino Family."

Interior and Local Government Secretary Alfredo Lim, who organized the event, said the all-out participation of various branches of government was an "affirmation that all is united in abhorring the proliferation of illegal drugs."

"With the local officials and the community behind the government, I do not see any reason why we will fail in our campaign to crush this menace," he said.

Lim noted that the traffic of illegal drugs is now considered a P350-billion-a-year trade in the country. And he said that while the government is bent on stopping this trade, it cannot succeed without the support of the private sector.

The National Drug Law Enforcement and Prevention (NDEP) Coordinating Center of the Philippine National Police estimates that some 1.7 million Filipinos are now using illegal drugs.

In its campaign Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga (Citizens Against Drugs), it noted that 10 percent of the country's 41,000 barangays are having problems with drugs, particularly metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, a stimulant which is now considered the number one drug abused by Filipinos.

Participants in yesterday's forum came up with a "plan of action" which contained guidelines in combating the proliferation and use of illegal drugs in their localities. They also signed a covenant, affirming their commitment to the intensified campaign against drugs.

The plan of action includes the setting aside of funds by local government units for anti-drug councils and allowing the NDEP to assess the performance of such councils and recommend administrative cases against non-performing local officials.

Lim said local government leaders have no reason not to be able to address the drug problem at their level. He explained that even barangay officials have all the legal rights to arrest suspected drug dealers in their areas of jurisdiction.

"Under the law you can effect the arrest of drug pushers and users in your barangays," he said.

Lim, a former mayor of Manila, gained notoriety for spray-painting warnings on houses of suspected drug traffickers in his city. When he was named head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government this year, he revived the campaign but his efforts were cut off when the Supreme Court declared the drive unconstitutional.

Lim, however, urged those in the summit to keep working together in fighting drugs "for the sake of our children and grandchildren and for the generations to come."

"I assure you that our law enforcers are prepared to sacrifice their lives if only to end this menace," he said.