DRUG-FREE IS BUSINESS-FRIENDLY

Investors have been known to immediately take out of their list
countries that have drug and crime problems.

If the present successful efforts of our major drug-combating agency
would continue, our chances of being included in this short list of
countries for possible business investments shall stand great.

Activated pursuant to Executive Order No. 218 dated June 18, 2003, the
AIDSOTF or Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force under the
stewardship of Task Force Commander and then Deputy Director General
and now PNP Chief Edgar Batalla Aglipay, the country's premier
drug-busting group has indeed made an outstanding account of itself in
a little over a year of operations.

Consider Aidsotf's Performance:

It was directed to clear 500 drug-affected barangays every three
months or 2,000 in a year it cleared 5,140 drug-affected barangays or
more than double the target given.

It was directed to arrest 6,000 drug pushers and users every three
months or 24,000 in a year it arrested and charged in court 32,762.

It was directed to neutralize 60 local drug groups every three months
or 240 in a year to date 239 local drug groups have been neutralized,
just one shy but still counting.

Now, what's awesome is the task force's dismantling of 15 shabu
laboratories and seven shabu warehouses and taking out of the streets
P22 billion worth of shabu and ephedrine (major component of shabu).

The laudable performance of the task force is estimated to have
crippled more than 60 percent of the operations of the illegal drug
syndicates, particularly those engaged in the mass production of shabu
in the country.

I got all these facts and figures during our on and off camera
conversation, which my brother Rey and I had with now PNP Chief
General Aglipay, while taping last week for our TV show Breaking
Barriers, which will be shown this coming Wednesday, at 11 pm on IBC
TV-13. I even kidded him, "with such enviable success it looks like
you are winning the war against illegal drugs here better than your
counterparts are doing in the US", and typical of his fine and always
unobtrusive demeanor, Egay only managed a smile for the compliment.

And also typical of him, he was even taking none of the credit but
instead citing the dedication of his men in the task force and in
quite a number of instances the help of the populace in informing the
authorities and helping in the pin pointing of the locations of
laboratories churning out the illegal drugs.

And in this regard I'd like to pass on to our readers some of the
indicators of the likely presence of shabu laboratories and
warehouses. Knowledge of this information can help us ordinary
citizens in sensing these illegal drug factories that may already be
inconspicuously present in our locality, se we can in turn report such
possible presence to the authorities.

Indicators on the Likely Presence of Shabu Lab / Warehouse

Building with high fence and gates

Usually leased for short periods (eight months to a year) and
uninhabited most of the time

The lessee is not the occupant

Usually stored inside the leased property are inferior quality
imported items so as to look like "legitimate fronts"

Only with a handful of workers, mostly Chinese-looking

The presence of giant smokestacks/exhaust systems despite being a
non-factory building

Emission of nauseating odors from highly toxic chemicals

Corroded roof and stained walls due to chemical burns

Discolored and damaged floors due to very potent acid

Dried-up vegetation within the vicinity

Presence of container vans, closed vans and passenger
vans

Presence of closed circuit TV cameras

Presence of mixers, dryers, pressure tanks and rotary
evaporators

Presence of wooden crates containing bottles of Thionyl Chloride and
Acetone

Presence of Ephedrine contained in sacks

Presence of activated carbon

Very high consumption of hydrogen gas, electricity and
water

Now if you see the presence of the above or even just the combination
of some of them, it may be likely that what you have in your midst is
a shabu factory. Considering that you do not have the trained eye or
the skill to accurately determine whether it's really a shabu
laboratory, the best course of action is to make a discreet report to
the task force, which is located inside Camp Crame.

General Aglipay's very dedicated illegal drug-busting group has also
come up with a profile of shabu factory chemists or helpers. And in
order to make our readers better equipped in identifying them, I'd
like to pass it on.

Shabu Laboratory Workers' Profile

Usually are foreign nationals, mostly Chinese

With acid burns or discoloration in their arms

Do not mingle with local residents

Display paranoid tendencies

Suffer from diseases afflicting internal organs particularly the liver
and kidney

With no visible means of income

Cannot speak Tagalog or local dialect

General Aglipay enjoins the populace to help out in this Herculean
task to clear the country of illegal drugs. His task force has even
come up with a system wherein citizens can provide information to help
them apprehend pushers and users of these illegal drugs and dismantle
the labs that churn them out without putting the citizens' safety into
jeopardy. They are also willing to reward those who supply this info.

The police authorities can never be successful in this war against
illegal drugs without the help of the civilian populace. We need to
play out our part in being vigilant in this never-ending war to rid
our society of the evils of this menace.

If only for the unprecedented success of the AIDSOT Force, the
ascension of General Edgar B. Aglipay to the highest position in the
Philippine National Police hierarchy is nothing less than
well-deserved.

Congratulations Egay and the best of luck to you.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.