MACAPAGAL-ARROYO SONA TO UNMASK DRUG SYNDICATES

PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday said she would unmask big-time illegal
drug syndicates in her State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) before Congress
tomorrow. She said the expose' is part of the government's determined
campaign to restore peace and order as well as stamp out corruption.

In a radio interview, the President admitted that drug lords resort to
bribing corrupt public officials throughout the country so that they may
operate with impunity.

"In my SONA, I will identify these syndicates which I consider a threat to
national security," she said in Filipino.

"The illegal drug industry, which covers drug manufacturing, drug
trafficking and the corruption of public officials, is one of the biggest
problems of our country," the President added.

But more than anything, she said, the drug menace has been responsible for
the slow destruction of society's most basic unit -- the family.

"There are many families in the country that have been destroyed because one
member -- usually a child -- was a victim of drugs," she noted.

The President said the solution to the drug problem lies in the full
implementation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and the
creation of the new Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which Sen. Vicente
Sotto III would oversee.

Sotto, the President said, has accepted the job. However, she maintained
that he would be "working closely with the administration without resigning
from the Senate." (See banner, page A1.)

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye reiterated that the drug problem is part of
the campaign to maintain peace and order, which is connected to the
President's anti-terrorism thrust.

"The President will ask Congress to pass the anti-terrorism bill when she
speaks before the country on Monday," he said.

On Friday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) raided a suspected illegal
drug laboratory in the posh Xavierville Subdivision in Quezon City.

The PNP seized 104 kilos of shabu worth P104 million and arrested six
Chinese nationals and three Filipinos.