PDEA ORDERED TO CLAMP DOWN ON CORRUPT COPS, GOVT OFFICIALS

Malacanang on Friday ordered the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)
to also go after law enforcers, prosecutors and members of the judiciary
who protect drug syndicates.

President Arroyo gave the order after the Department of Justice noted a
suspicious "pattern" among police affidavits that often lead to the
dismissal of drug cases.

"The bungling of drug cases on purpose can happen at any level of the
criminal justice system and we will move against law enforcers,
prosecutors, judges who set drug offenders free in exchange for bribes. The
PDEA must keep a watch list of crooked personalities and expose and proceed
against them as the evidence warrants," the President said.

She pointed out that maintaining the integrity of the criminal justice
system is just as important as teamwork and synergy among all its components.

"We need the total participation of the community and civil society to
clean up the system," the President said.

Last week Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno did the rounds of the
prosecutors' offices in Manila and Pasay City following reports blaming
government prosecutors for the low conviction rate of drug cases in the
country.

The Department of Justice discovered that some police officers as well as
chemists who examined the confiscated drugs failed to show up during
trials, leaving prosecutors with no evidence to establish their cases.

The government launched its antidrug campaign owing to reports that drug
users in the country had reached 3.4 million.

The other day President Arroyo praised the PDEA for busting a drug
syndicate in Bulacan. She expects more syndicates to be destroyed within
the 90-day timeline she set to reduce the 100-odd drug syndicates in the
country.