NARCO-POLITICS SOUNDS 'GREEK' TO MALACANANG

Malacanang said it has not received any official information on the
allegedly pervasive influence of narco-politics in the country,
contrary to revelations made by the chief of the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

"We have not had any official report on the involvement of drug lords
in our political system," deputy spokesman Anthony Golez told The
Manila Times during an interview. "The only instruction of the
President was for the local governments to join the national
government in its campaign against illegal drugs."

During a press conference on Wednesday, however, Executive Secretary
Eduardo Ermita admitted that there is a general perception that
narco-politics has indeed crept into the Philippine political system.

The revelations made on Thursday by the head of anti-drug agency,
Director General Dionisio Santiago, prompted President Gloria Arroyo
to order the drug agency and the Dangerous Drugs Board during the
last Cabinet meeting to investigate local officials involved in the
illegal drug trade, Ermita said.

"There are local executives who are not supportive of the national
government's campaign against illegal drugs," he added. "They are not
attuned to PDEA and Dangerous Drugs Board's policies. There are also
reports that some [of these executives] are involved, [if those
reports are true, then] there must be collusion among agencies."

Some local politicians are using their businesses as a cover for
their illicit-drug deals, and the President wants that ploy
investigated, Ermita said.

He cited a case in Quezon province, south of Manila, a few years ago
where a town mayor was arrested transporting large quantities of
shabu (methampetamine hydrochloride or "ice") using an ambulance.

"So in all, the President said, 'Intensify your intelligence job so
that we can go to the bottom of this illegal drug business,'" Ermita said.

The Manila Times reported on Friday that illegal drug gangs have
penetrated Philippine politics, quoting Santiago, who said that the
narcotics problem had become a threat to national security.

According to the agency chief, narco-politics is affecting the
country at all levels of politics, from the municipal to the
national. But he declined to give names and would not be drawn on
whether the syndicates included people in the Arroyo administration,
senators or congressmen.

The President declared herself as the country's anti-drug czar,
saying that she has to assume the post because of the need for a more
effective anti-drug campaign and to prevent drug traffickers from
corrupting the justice system.

She also ordered Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor and four
government lawyers, including Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno,
to go on leave in connection with the case of the "Alabang
Boys"--three young suspected drug traffickers from well-off families.

PNP Cooperation

On Santiago's call on law-enforcement agencies for a collaborative
approach to licking the drug menace, the chief of the national police
also on Friday said they are willing to share with the anti-drug
agency information on high-profile personalities suspected to be
involved in drug trafficking.

Police Director General Jesus Verzosa, during a chance interview,
added that they also are willing to cooperate in the agency's fight
against banned substances whose use, he said, has reached an alarming stage.

"We are very willing to share information [with PDEA] but what we
need is a formal invitation or request [from the drug agency] to
avoid misinterpretation," he told reporters at national-police
headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City. He was taping his regular
television show, Talakayan Sa Isyu ng Pulis, or TSIP, aired over
government television every Friday night.

The formal invitation or request, Verzosa said, would prevent
conflict with the anti-drug agency, which has full jurisdiction over
drug cases, including those involving "small" traffickers.

Police Rejected

Former national police chief Avelino Razon Jr. had asked the drug
agency to give to the police the authority to arrest such
traffickers. But the agency refused, saying that it can deal with all
drug suspects.

The rejection made Razon pull out all national-police personnel
assigned to the drug agency. He, however, gave them the option to
stay but they no longer would be part of the national police if they did.

The national police allow their anti-narcotics units to conduct drug
operations provided that at least one member of the anti-drug agency
would join the missions. The presence of the agency member is meant
to avoid the issue of "technicalities" when a drug case is filed
before the office of prosecutors. One technicality that has been
invoked by lawyers of drug suspects is their clients getting arrested
without a warrant. If it is upheld by the courts, charges are dropped
and the suspects are released.

Under this arrangement, Verzosa said, they could only share
information on drugs, thus, the need for the formal invitation or request.