GMA TAPS SOTTO TO OVERSEE CREATION OF NEW DRUGS BODY

President Arroyo formally asked yesterday opposition Sen. Vicente Sotto III
to "oversee" the creation of the new Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), a move
expected to draw howls of protests from certain quarters questioning the
senator's alleged links to suspected drug lords.

The President clarified that Sotto need not resign from the Senate just to
help the government wage a vigorous war against illegal drugs.

Mrs. Arroyo maintained that her offer has nothing to do with any attempts
to break the impasse at the Senate with the opposition and the ruling party
memberships tied at 12 each.

"I am thankful to Senator Tito Sotto for accepting this challenge and
responsibility. I am sure that he will give this task the fullest measure
of his dedication, patriotism and professionalism," the President said.

For his part, Sotto said: "I am even flattered by the offer. The problem on
drugs is beyond the issue of politics and does not have anything to do with
any political party."

He added that Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), of which he is a
stalwart, had no objections to his accepting the President's invitation.

Sotto, a former partymate of the President in the Kabalikat ng Masang
Pilipino (Kampi), made the remark to debunk speculations that he would be
leaving the LDP to join the ruling Lakas-NUCD.

Mrs. Arroyo vowed to identify illegal drug syndicates operating in the
country in her state of the nation address to be delivered at tomorrow's
reopening of Congress.

"I will tell on the drug syndicates which we consider as enemies of our
country's security," Mrs. Arroyo said.

The President named earlier retired police generals Anselmo Avenido and
Efren Fernandez as director general and deputy director general,
respectively, of the newly created Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The new agency was formed under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of
2002 as the law enforcement agency of the DDB which was patterned after the
United States" Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Under Section 77 of the new law, the 17-member DDB would serve as the
policy-making and strategy-formulating body on drug prevention and control.

Mrs. Arroyo expressed alarm that the illegal drug industry in the country
has grown to alarming proportions as evinced by the huge amounts of seized
drugs coming in from China and other countries using the Philippines as
transit points for their international trade.

She cited as example last Friday's raid by the PNP of a shabu factory in
Loyola Heights in Quezon City which resulted in the confiscation of some
P118 million worth of high-grade shabu and the arrest of seven Chinese
nationals and three Filipinos.

"But now, we must turn to the total implementation of the Comprehensive
Dangerous Drugs Act. And a good beginning is to initiate the creation of
the new Dangerous Drugs Board. This is where we need expertise and
commitment," the President said.

Mrs.. Arroyo did not say in what capacity would Sotto, who is in his second
and last term as a senator, serve in the DDB.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Sotto may serve as an adviser of the
DDB, but admitted he was not aware what the senator's official position
would be in the agency.

Meanwhile, the militant Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC)
questioned the propriety of the President's offer to Sotto, citing the
senators previous link to alleged drug lord Alfredo Tiongco who was
eventually cleared of the drug charges by the court.

VACC leader Dante Jimenez said Sotto must "come clean" with the allegations.

"We have to clarify the legal parameters first of his designation. But we
also want the senator to clarify the status of that Tiongco case.

In a radio interview, Sotto said there were no political concessions
involved in the President's offer.

Sotto, principal author of the new anti-drugs law, also known as Republic
Act 9165, said a PDEA academy to recruit and train DEA agents was also
envisioned by the law.

"He (Sotto) spent much time, effort and research so that this law could be
enacted," Mrs. Arroyo said.

Barbers calls for PDEA activation

In another development, Sen. Robert Barbers called for the immediate
activation of the PDEA and the reorganization of the DDB, saying there was
an urgent need to illustrate the strength of the new law.

Barbers, a former Manila police colonel, said the government must send a
strong message to illegal drug syndicates by "giving a sample" of what the
law provides.

"We have been declaring war against illegal drugs all the time, but what we
need in this battle is to show the government's weapon. The execution of
convicted drug lords and more intensified operations through PDEA are the
best means to elucidate that we will not let them get away with their
unlawful activities," Barbers said in a statement.

"Now that we have PDEA, which is an inter-agency law enforcement arm that
has absorbed the PNP anti-narcotics group, the narcotics division of the
National Bureau of Investigation and the narcotics interdiction of the
Bureau of Customs, we can centralize our operations against suspected drug
lords and even street pushers. This is a very tough law and if this measure
fails, it is also a failure of the law enforcers," the senator added.