UN report on drugs and crimes ironic - Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang has branded as “ironic” the recent report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) saying that the Philippines is a global “shabu” giant.

“The irony of this conclusion by the UN agency is that it was based on the accomplishment report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA),” said Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.

The UNODC 2009 World Drug Report ranked the Philippines fifth among countries that conducted the most number of shabu raids from 1998 until 2007.

What was ironic, Remonde said, was the report’s basis was culled from data on the accomplishments of the PDEA, which has intensified its monitoring, apprehension and recovery of illegal drugs, including successful raids on shabu laboratories.

He said this was a result of the government’s efficient campaign against illegal drugs especially after President Arroyo appointed herself as anti-drug czar last January to oversee a three-pronged fight against illegal drugs.

The President has waged the anti-illegal drug campaign on three fronts: intensified law enforcement, judicial action, and policy making, which involve prevention, enforcement, rehabilitation and after-care, Remonde noted.

“On record, it is under this administration that we discovered and busted drug laboratories including the recovery of shabu, its precursors and other paraphernalia,” Remonde said.

Nevertheless, Remonde said that with this data, the government would all the more continue its no-nonsense campaign against methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).

Remonde urged every sector to help and coordinate with the government in curbing the drug menace and hasten in wiping out the shabu problem in the country. – Paolo Romero