A BANNER YEAR IN WAR ON DRUGS

The year 2003 has been a banner year in the government's campaign against
illegal drugs, according chief drugbuster Deputy Director General Edgar
Aglipay.

He described as a bountiful harvest the more than P13 billion worth of
illegal drugs and raw materials seized by the police in just six months of
operations.

"This has never happened before," said Aglipay, who heads the police
Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF).

In a period of six months, Aglipay said, AID-SOTF was able to neutralize
the operation of 16 shabu factories, laboratories and warehouses.

He said the successful accomplishment was a result of President Arroyo's
directive to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to bring the war against illegal drugs even to
the remotest barangays in the country.

The President allocated P100 million for AID-SOTF's first three months of
operations, but the budget was "stretched" to last six months, said Senior
Superintendent George Piano, AID-SOTF comptroller.

In his report to Mrs. Arroyo, Aglipay said task force agents also arrested
a total of 20,126 drug suspects nationwide, and filed 13,621 drug cases in
court. Among those arrested were 19 Chinese nationals and three policemen
believed behind the manufacture and distribution of shabu in the streets.

Shabu warehouses and storage facilities were also discovered and dismantled
in Metro Manila and nearby provinces like Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan
and Rizal, he said.

Aglipay struck hard against the drug menace when he was tapped by the
President last June to help the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in
attaining a drug-free Philippines by year 2010.

He commended elements of the AID-SOTF Special Operations Group (SOG) for
taking the lead role in dismantling 11 of the busted shabu laboratories and
the recovery of 2,090 kilos of shabu and 5,368 kilos of ephedrine and
laboratory equipment.

"The task force immediately hit the ground running with a fast and furious
pace upon activation," said Aglipay adding they will continue waging a
"no-quarters-given, no-quarters-taken" campaign against illegal drugs.

He claimed that the accomplishments of the Arroyo government in the
campaign against illegal drugs is bigger than the combined accomplishments
achieved by the past administrations since the time of President Manuel Quezon.

He attributed the successful campaign to the public's cooperation and the
dedication and enthusiasm of his men and other police units at the police
regional offices down to the lowest level of command at the precinct and
station level.