Aquino: PDEA has only 16 drug-sniffing dogs

MANILA, Philippines - The government, particularly the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), only has 16 drug-sniffing dogs to fight the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country, President Aquino said yesterday.

“Amongst the things that we inherited for instance, PDEA has a total number of 16 dogs to cover all the 16 regions of the country. So, that is one dog per region and the dog works for two hours at maximum,” he told the weekly Bulong Pulungan forum.

He said given the country’s 36,000-kilometer coastline and “the numerous ports, airports, terminals, the 16 PDEA dogs are obviously not going to make it and not going make a dent (in the drive against drugs). It’s a multi-faceted problem.”

The Chief Executive made the remarks during yesterday’s Christmas party of the weekly forum at Sofitel Philippine Plaza, whose officers include STAR editor Joanne Rae Ramirez and columnist Domini Torrevillas.

Asked about Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in other countries, Aquino said there have been new incursions by nationals from foreign countries that were not part of the Philippine drug problem, but they have been “suppressed and arrested.”

He said the government has done “serious streamlining” and a “review of the entire procedures of our drug fight.” The President said that they have told the prosecutors that the “ability to shift papers from one desk to another is no longer the criteria for promotion,” it is the “ability to win cases.”