Colombia, Russia vow to help Philippine anti-illegal drug campaign

MANILA, Philippines - Russia yesterday joined Colombia and other nations in helping the Philippines fight the drug problem after President Aquino and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed bilateral agreements on trade and combating drug trafficking.

Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the drug agreement was signed by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Arturo Cacdac and Vladimir Kalanda, first deputy director of the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Narcotics Traffic Control.

This aims to strengthen Philippines-Russia cooperation to address problems relative to the production, spread, and abuse of new psychoactive substances through exchanges of information and methods, advisory and expertise assistance, and the conduct of research.

The agreement is also in line with the government’s efforts to combat the use of illegal drugs, which will also complement the Philippines-Russia agreement, signed in 2007 to combat the trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors. 

The trade agreement, meantime, was signed by Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo and his Russian counterpart, Alexei Ulyukayev, the minister of Russian Federation’s Economic Development.

Under the pact, both countries agreed to put up a Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, which will serve as the “primary mechanism” to facilitate and promote trade and economic cooperation between the Philippines and Russia, Coloma said.

“Under the agreement, the Philippines and Russia will identify measures to facilitate the flow of bilateral trade and investments, and explore areas and sectors where cooperation could be expanded and intensified,” he said. 

The Philippine-Russia trade agreement also “envisions the participation of the private sector and business community, as well as experts in the economic field to complement governmental efforts to bolster Philippines-Russia economic cooperation.”

During the bilateral meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center, Coloma said Aquino conveyed Manila’s condolences to Putin, through Medvedev, on the recent crash of Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 that killed about 240 passengers.

Aquino, this year’s host for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held here in Manila, also reminded the Russian official of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Moscow and Manila that will be celebrated next year.

Medvedev also extended his government’s congratulations for the “impressive performance” of the local economy under Aquino, and declared Moscow’s plans to “scale up economic cooperation: energy, telecoms, transport and infrastructure.”

Medvedev then invited Aquino to attend the Expo on Transportation in Moscow in 2016.

For his part, Aquino reciprocated by inviting Russia for “enhanced trade cooperation in areas of IT-BPM, processed and specialty food, energy and renewables, design-driven products and aerospace.”  

Coloma related further that Aquino cited the “great potential offered by large scale public and private sector contracts, such as AG&P’s participation in Yamal LNG (liquid natural gas) project in the Far East.”