CHECKING ILLEGAL DRUGS; CHECKING HIGH-LIVING

IT'S "cleansing" time at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

But ironically, the target are not those who are high on drugs but anti-drug
law enforcers themselves who are into "high-living".

A "lifestyle check" on all law enforcement agents have been ordered by PDEA
Chairman Anselmo S. Avenido in the wake of allegations that pervasive
corruption remains the biggest stumbling block to the war against illegal
drugs being waged by the government.

"It has become evident that the drive against the scourge of illegal drugs
is being derailed from within - my corrupt agents of the law who are aiding
and abetting drug syndicates," Senator Loren Legarda has warned earlier.

Legarda and Senator Robert Z. Barbers who chairs the Senate committee on
public order and illegal drugs, have called for a no-nonsense investigation
into the matter and related "drug scandals" in their bid to stop the growing
drug menace in the country.

Among the recent "drug scandals" involving different police agencies were
the escape from the Manila City Jail of two foreigners who were caught with
22 kilos of shabu, the pilferage of P15 million worth of shabu from the NBI
evidence locker, the alleged loss of 500 grams of shabu at the Bureau of
Customs, the alleged bribery attempt of nine police officers on fellow
officers in Baguio City for the release of a suspected drug dealer and the
arrest of dozens of police officers on drug charges during the first seven
months of the year.

Under the ongoing PDEA "cleansing" the names of about 400 members of the
PDEA were reportedly submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
for background investigation to determine if they have "unexplained assets"
and leading extravagant lives.

NBI Chief Reynaldo Wycoco and his men will likely discover something wrong
with some of the PDEA men who came from the defunct National Drug Law
Enforcement and Prevention Coordinating Center and the Narcotics Group of
the Philippine National Police (PNP).

And fears abound that PNP Chief Hermogenes Ebdane may order a similar check
on other PNP officers and men to impose greater discipline and adherence to
ethical standards.

And why not? After all, the PNP Ethical Doctrine requires that police
officers must " live a simple and dignified life. They must be free from
greed, corruption, and exploitation."

To be true to their pledge, law enforcers must observe simple living. And to
be worthy of public respect, they must display superb crime-busting.

Let the "cleansing" time roll! And let heads roll, too.