DRUG USERS INCREASE BY 100% IN 4 YEARS

From 3 To 6 Milion -- PDEA Chief

ILOILO CITY - The number of drug dependents in the country increased
by three million or by 100 percent within a period of four years.

Director General Dionesio Santiago of the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency yesterday said the three million regular and occasional drug
users in 1999 nationwide, rose to an estimated six million in 2004.

Santiago, former Armed Forces chief of staff, said law enforcement is
only 30 percent of the solution to the drug menace, which needs the
participation of all sectors of society.

PDEA records show that almost half of the six million Filipinos hooked
on drugs are regular users.

Secretary Anselmo Avenido, chairman of the Dangerous Drug Board, said
the drug problem in the country has already reached the level of being
a "threat to national security".

The United States Joint Inter-Agency Task Force is helping the PDEA in
its fight against the drug menace in the Philippines, which has been
tagged as among the major sources of marijuana in Southeast Asian countries.

PDEA investigations also showed that 70 percent of heinous crimes
committed nationwide are drug-related.

Santiago said the campaign against drugs is gaining a headway, citing
raids of several shabu laboratories all over the country.

"We hope to further improve our efficiency as an organization with
support from the community," said Santiago, who became PDEA chief last
month.

Avenido and Santiago were joined by presidential sister-law Marilou
Arroyo and US Navy Commander Matt Laughlin at the inauguration of
newly-renovated PDEA regional office, which is headed by Supt. Rolen
Balquin, here yesterday.

Balquin said the US government spent about P5 million for the
renovation of the PDEA regional office that used to be the
headquarters of the Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau in
Western Visayas.

The construction and renovation of five other PDEA regional offices in
key cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and Maritime Drug
Enforcement Coordinating Centers were also financed by the US
government, Avenido disclosed.

Balquin said he is focusing their anti-drug campaign on demand
reduction through symposia with students, teachers and even parents as
participants.

Five local drug groups exist in Region 6, two of which are operating
in Bacolod City, PDEA records show