ARROYO LEADS ANTI-DRUGS CONGRESS ON TUESDAY IN QC

In a move to further intensify the campaign against illegal drugs in the
metropolis, President Gloria Arroyo leads the officers and members of more
than 1,000 Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (ADACs) of 17 cities and towns, and
1,693 barangays of Metro Manila in a congress on Tuesday,Oct. 28, at the
Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG) announced recently.

Interior and Local Government Secretary and Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB)
Chairman Jose Lina said the congress is expected to be attended by all
officers and members of the ADAC in Metro Manila numbering more than
17,000, Metro Manila city and municipal mayors, barangay chairmen, and top
officials of the DILG, DDB, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and
the Philippine National Police (PNP).

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose administration's top priority
agenda is the campaign against illegal drugs, is the guest of honor and
speaker of the one-day affair.

Lina said one of the objectives of the congress is to mobilize all Metro
Manila anti-drug abuse councils in the all-out war against illegal drugs in
the metropolis. He said the council could be of great help to the PNP and
the PDEA in monitoring illegal drug operations on the barangay level,
adding it can tip off police or law enforcement agencies about the
existence of a shabu laboratory, or provide law enforcers information on
suspected drug dealers, pushers or even users in a community.

"More important, considering that members of the anti-drug council come
from the various sectors of the community including the church, it could be
an effective vehicle in the conduct of a massive education and information
campaign on the ill effect of illegal drugs," Lina said. (Rico Navarro)