PDEA urged to name candidates with ties to drug syndicates

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential candidate Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal challenged yesterday the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to reveal the names of national candidates who have known ties to illegal drug coddlers, syndicates and users.

Madrigal’s challenge for PDEA to “name names” came after the agency’s apprehension that illicit narcotics money may influence the upcoming elections was mentioned in the US Department of State’s 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. Even before the release of the State Department’s latest country reports on narcotics control, PDEA had publicly expressed fear that drug money could affect the elections.

“In the interest of transparency and accountability, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency should reveal the names of national candidates who have known ties to illegal drug coddlers, syndicates, and users,” Madrigal said. She added that the public should know who among the candidates will have any conflict of interest in the prosecution of drug cases.“Dapat malaman ng taong bayan kung sino-sino ang magkakaroon ng utang na loob sa mga drug pushers. Narco politics has grown by leaps and bounds under the Arroyo administration which goes to show the extent to which Mrs. Arroyo will protect her allies whether they are involved in the drug trade or massive human rights abuse like the Ampatuan massacre,” Madrigal said.

The Arroyo administration, she said, is to blame for the proliferation of the drug trade in the Philippines.

“I challenge as well the other presidential candidates to honestly reveal who among their relatives, supporters and funders have connections with drug lords. We must come clean to the Filipino people on this issue. We must lead by example,” she said.

Security threat

According to law enforcement officials and the PDEA, the drug problem in the Philippines could be considered a national security threat. Although the Philippines is not a regional financial center, the State Department’s report said the illegal drug trade in the country has evolved into a billion dollar industry.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party expressed concern yesterday over the US State Department report on narcotics control showing that the illegal drugs trade in the country had evolved into a billion-dollar industry and that illicit narcotics money “may be used to influence the May 10 elections.” The 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report said the PDEA has publicly expressed fears that illicit narcotics money could influence the 2010 elections, and had pledged to pursue any evidence of such influence in order to carry out arrests. “We are alarmed at the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released in the US last Tuesday, which discussed the continuing illicit drug trade that freely seeps through our ‘porous’ boarders,” lawyer Edwin Lacierda, spokesperson of LP standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, said.

“The report called attention to the danger that the money from this narcotics trade would pose on the integrity of the 2010 elections. These elections are crucial – it may be our last shot in securing our country’s future – and yet it is plagued by so many hazards,” Lacierda said.