'DEEP PENETRATION AGENTS' TO HELP COPS VS DRUGS

THE MAKATI local government has deputized 74 men to act as deep penetration
agents in its effort to curb the growing drug problem in the city.

"This is our way of formally serving notice to the illegal drug traders in
the city that they will not have their way in Makati," said Vice Mayor
Ernesto Mercado, who will head the newly formed Makati Anti-Drug Abuse
Council (Madac).

"We in Makati are not hypocrites," he added. "We admit to having a drug
problem and we recognize that problem. This is not only a problem that
besets Makati, but also other urban centers in Metro Manila, and even the
world."

The "agents" will form the core of Madac, and will assist city police in
going after drug users and pushers.

"These agents would be balut vendors, watch-your-car boys, who will
penetrate the illegal drug trade and act as our informers," he said. "But
they would be full-time personnel."

They will also act as intelligence officers who will identify areas where
there is rampant use of illegal drugs, according to Insp. Gary Reyes, chief
of the Makati Police Drug Enforcement Unit.

Madac will divide the deputized officers into six clusters that will assist
police in drug buy-bust operations in the city's two districts, according to
the executive order by Mayor Jejomar Binay.

"We need to face the problem of drugs," Binay said Thursday. "We need to
work together."

At least two policemen assigned to the Makati DEU will head each Madac
cluster.

But with only 14 members, Reyes admitted the DEU could not provide
sufficient police officers to head the operations of the clusters.

Prior to their appointment as DPAs and intelligence officers, the 74 Madac
members attended a seminar on anti-drug operations, particularly on the
proper handling of evidence.

Mercado said they would also undergo drug tests every 30 days.

"The involvement of these civilian personnel in the anti-drug campaign is
indicative of our direction in solving the drug problem," he said. "The drug
problem should be everybody's concern."