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.