PRESIDENT APPOINTS SOTTO ANTI-DRUGS CONSULTANT

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday formally announced the
appointment of opposition Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III as overall
consultant in the government's anti-illegal drugs campaign.

The President said Sotto accepted the position but without giving up his
position in the Senate.

Ms Macapagal's announcement came two days before her state of the nation
address on Monday, July 22, at the opening of the 13th Congress.

The Inquirer had reported that with the appointment, Sotto would be
expected to join the administration bloc that is seeking to tilt the
balance of power back in its favor. It also said another opposition Sen.
Robert Jaworski would be voting with the administration party.

Sotto, who confirmed his acceptance, stressed there was no politics
involved in his appointment.

He told the Inquirer: "It was not important that I belong to the LDP while
the President is with the Lakas-NUCD party. "Walang parti-partido dito."
(No partisanship here) What is at stake here is the future of our youth who
are targets of drug traders. This is my principal consideration."

Sotto would reportedly serve as the "overseer" in the setting up and
operation of the Presidential Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the super
body created under Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act 2002.

The PDEA is the country's version of the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

"I was invited and I accepted," Sotto told the Inquirer. "The PDEA was my
brainchild as I was the principal author of the law."