PDEA SAYS UN REPORT ON RP DRUGS 'MISLEADING'

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief, Anselmo Avenido,
branded on Saturday as "misleading" the United Nations report tagging
the Philippines as one of the top manufacturers of illegal
amphetamines, locally known as shabu.

Avenido said the report claiming the Philppines is third only to
Mayan-mar and China in the world production of shabu is "grossly
inaccurate" because it relied on old data.

"The UN report is a compilation of data submitted by the different
member-countries for the year 2002 and earlier. In 2002, we dismantled
four shabu laboratories and in 2001 we dismantled three," said Avenido
in a statement.

He added that the multiple seizures of ephedrine mentioned in the UN
report were the results of the recovery of pieces of evidence from the
dismantled shabu laboratories and chemical warehouses in the
Philippines.

The PDEA chief also said the seven dismantled shabu laboratories in
the country can be attributed to the government's aggressive campaign
against illegal drugs.

However, he admitted the drug problem in the Philippines was still
serious, adding that there was still much to be done.