RP-CHINA ACCORDS ON DRUGS TAKE EFFECT

Two agreements the Philippines signed last year with China in combating
transnational crime and the traffic of illegal drugs are now in effect.

This was learned over the weekend after the Chinese Foreign Ministry
informed the Philippine Embassy in Beijing of Chinaa TMs completion of the
necessary domestic legal procedures for the agreementsa TM enforcement.

Earlier, an administration lawmaker urged President Arroyo to bring up with
the Chinese government the issue of the unabated entry of shabu into the
country from mainland China.

Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas, Bukidnon) said that even if police and
military authorities make daily arrests, still their effort wona TMt make a
dent on the supply of shabu "if the pipeline that stretches all the way
from China will continue to flow."

"The drug problem has overseas origins. Like many of the things Filipinos
buy, shabu is a made-in-China product," he said.

The illegal stimulant shabu, or methamphetamine hydrochloride, is
considered the most-abused illegal substance in the country at present.
Just the other day, authorities raided a house in a posh subdivision in
Quezon City that is being used as a factory for shabu. Several Chinese
nationals serving as chemists were arrested.

Zubiri said Chinese drug producers and traffickers find the Philippines a
huge market that is easy to penetrate because of its porous borders.

He suggested that for a start, the government should convey to the highest
levels in Beijing its concern over the continued flow of shabu into the
country.

He pointed out that a combination of diplomatic initiatives and good police
and law enforcement work could stop the entry and use of shabu in the
Philippines.

In October last year, Mrs. Arroyo, in her visit to Beijing, signed two
memoranda of agreement with the Chinese government.

The two memoranda apply on the traffic of illegal drugs such as shabu. The
Philippines and China have agreed to establish channels of communication to
facilitate rapid exchange of information that could lead to the arrest of
drug traffickers.

Mrs. Arroyo has expressed desire to organize a Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency patterned after that of the United States. The agency will derive
its power from the tougher anti-drug law recently enacted by Congress.

Zubiri, one of the authors of the anti-drug law, said it is time that the
Philippines act seriously on the problem of drugs. "Ita TMs time we focus
our attention on this menace which is affecting event the remotest
villages," he said.