BARBERS STILL SEEKING TOUGHER DRUG LAW

Persons caught with at least 10 grams of shabu and other prohibited drugs
would be denied bail if Sen. Robert Barbers is able to convince the
bicameral conference committee to return this provision of the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Bill of 2002.

Members of the Senate and House of Representatives comprising the bicameral
conference committee are set to reconcile their different versions of the bill.

Barbers, the principal author of the Senate bill, told The STAR yesterday
he wants the possession of at least 10 grams of shabu and other prohibited
drugs to be a non-bailable offense.

"I hope that my colleagues will come to realize and take note that shabu is
the most common illegal drug substance being used by drug dependents," he said.

Under the existing Dangerous Drugs Act, one has to possess 200 grams or
more of prohibited drugs to be imposed the maximum penalty.

Thus, drug pushers can still move around carrying less than 99 grams of the
substance, knowing that if caught, they can always post bail and without
fear of life imprisonment or the death penalty and a fine of P500,000 to
P10 million.

The Senate bill provides that life imprisonment to death, or a fine ranging
from P500,000 to P10 million be imposed on any person arrested in
possession of the following:

- - 99 grams or more of shabu;

- - 10 grams of Ecstasy, opium, or morphine, or heroin or cocaine, or cocaine
hydrochloride, or marijuana resin or marijuana resin oil; or

- - 500 grams of marijuana.

Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta has also sponsored a bill to amend the Revised
Penal Code to exclude minor offenders from "stiff" penalties, including
capital punishment for violation of the Dangerous Drugs law.

Oreta said her bill seeks to lower the penalty of minors acting with
discernment by two degrees than that prescribed by law, and those of minors
aged 15 but less than 18, by one degree.

"I would not allow the Senate, much less myself, to be a party to the
execution of the youth," she said.

Oreta said Presidential Decree 603, the Child and Youth Welfare Code,
provides that minor offenders must be confined in a rehabilitation center,
and if found to have behaved properly, must be acquitted without any record
of being charged.

Minors below nine years old are exempted from criminal liability under
existing law, she added.

The Senate also seeks to exclude elementary school pupils from mandatory
drug testing.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza said the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Bill of 2002 will "add more teeth" to the
government's anti-drugs campaign.

"The Senate's move provides the impetus and adds more teeth to the law," he
said. "It also sends a strong message to drug syndicates and would-be
offenders that the government offers no compromise in the anti-illegal
drugs campaign."

Once the bill becomes law, it would strengthen the resolve of the police to
go after drug traffickers, he added.