31 congressmen seek probe of flourishing illegal drug trade

Thirty-one congressmen, led by Pasig City Rep. Robert Jaworski Jr., urged the House yesterday to conduct an investigation into the flourishing trade in illegal drugs.

In Resolution 1152, the lawmakers said drug trafficking poses a "clear and present danger to society and the nation’s security."

"We, the representatives of our people, should do everything within our power to help eradicate this drug problem confronting us, and we must ensure that the authorities execute and enforce our laws," they said.

The House, they said, must exercise its oversight function since high-ranking government, military and police officials are reportedly involved in or are protecting the illegal drug trade.

"This Congress cannot, should not, and ought not to allow a systematic and deliberate destruction of our society by turning a blind eye to the drug menace," they stressed.

They pointed out that in enacting the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Congress had declared a national policy to "pursue an intensive and unrelenting campaign against the trafficking and use of dangerous drugs and other similar substances through an integrated system of planning, implementation and enforcement of anti-drug abuse policies, programs and projects."

The filing of the resolution was prompted by the recent raid by a team from Philippine National Police of a shabu tiangge near Pasig’s City Hall and the Eastern Police District headquarters.

The authors of Resolution 1152 said the PNP central office kept city officials and Pasig policemen in the dark on the raid to avoid any possible leakage.

"The brazenness and bravado by which the drug tiangge was operated is a clear indication that drug syndicates, financiers and operators are either not afraid to be caught or are confident that they will not be caught," they said.

The congressmen said it was impossible for city and police officials not to have known about the shabu market since it "was just 65 steps away" from City Hall and the police headquarters.

Jaworski has vowed to file charges against some officials for, at the very least, abetting the operation of the drug tiangge and later for destroying vital evidence by demolishing shanties inside the compound.