BISHOP URGES VOTERS TO REJECT 'DRUG MONEY'

CEBU CITY -- Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has urged the public to
vote only for candidates who are not tainted with "drug money."

In a pastoral statement, Vidal said voters could help in the fight against
illegal drugs and narco-politics by ensuring that candidates with dubious
backgrounds would not prevail in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan
elections on July 15.

Vidal said his appeal was "not a call to vigilantism," but was issued only
to ensure "that the candidates that they vote for are not tainted with drug
money."

"If the proliferation of illegal drugs is in itself a big problem,
narco-politics is an allied danger lurking in the shadows," Vidal said.

He defined narco-politics as "the use of drug money to corrupt and usurp the
political system, making it subservient to the illegal drug trade."

Vidal said the goal was to set up a "narco-state" so political patronage
would be in the hands of drug lords. The election campaigns, he added, were
financed using profits from illegal drugs. Resort to terror would then
become the means of maintaining power.

The term narco-politics was used to describe the influence of drug lords in
Latin-American governments. It became a byword in the country last year when
Army intelligence chief Victor Corpus warned that the Philippines was in
danger of being ruled by drug cartels that were backing influential
political figures.

Drug money, he warned, would be used to ensure the election of candidates
with links to the drug syndicates.

In his pastoral letter, "I Came That They May Have Life," Vidal said
insatiable greed and lust for power were what the Plenary Council of the
Philippines (PCP II) listed as root causes of the problem.

"Corruption has taken on a new face in the country, threatening us with the
totalitarian onslaught of the drug culture," Vidal said. "Drugs do not just
affect individuals and their families. It holds the entire nation hostage."

To change this, Vidal said the public should ensure:

*- That Church and lay leaders make sure that funds and contributions they
received did not come from illegal drugs;

*- That legislation related to drug problem would lead to the dismantling of
well-entrenched drug networks, that drug money may not be laundered and the
confiscated drugs, not be recycled;

*- That more credible witnesses would be encouraged to testify through
support and incentives;

*- That justice may be served in the cases on prohibited drugs; and

*- That economic programs be made available as alternatives to the drug
trade.

Vidal said data from the United Nations Office of Drug Control and the Crime
Prevention's World Drug Report 2000 showed there were about 1.8 million
shabu (metamphetamine hydrochloride) and 2.64 million marijuana addicts in
the country.

"In 1972, there were only about 20,000 marijuana addicts. Only about 5,000
addicts can be accommodated by rehabilitation centers," he said.

About 60 percent of shabu addicts in the Philippines were from the youth
sector, a majority of whom was poor. The illegal drug trade was reportedly a
65 billion pesos a year industry.

The statistics showed that in year 2002, about 800,000 Filipinos, ages 7 to
21, were in danger of becoming addicts. Six to seven of every 10 heinous
crimes in the country were drug-related.