Narco-politics ‘creeping’ in RP but not yet alarming — DDB

Narco-politics has already compromised the integrity of some of our local officials, possibly all the way up to the national level, an official of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) revealed yesterday.

According to Undersecretary Romeo Vera Cruz, the influence of drug lords on elected officials "is creeping."

"But objectively, we have no estimates (as to its real extent)," Cruz clarified, saying the information just came from "feedback" they receive from DDB field agents.

Since the illegal drug industry has a whopping P700 billion in annual earnings, Cruz said it is not surprising that drug lords can dictate the officials of their choice.

"They (drug lords) can help finance the campaign of officials. Either he (drug lord) himself will run or he will support a candidate," he explained.

Cruz, however, downplayed insinuations that narco-politics has reached an alarming level.

He said the influence of drug lords is just "starting out," not in the same extent or level like those from the Medellin Cartel in Colombia.

Cruz earlier surprised lawmakers in his disclosure that illegal drugs have become a lucrative trade in the country with dealers earning a staggering P700 billion in tax-free earnings.

He said the drug trade can be considered a multimillion-peso business in the Philippines, judging from the current street price of shabu at P5,000 a gram from just below P2,000 in 2000.

The disclosure prompted Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez to remark that the drug lords’ earnings even exceed half of the country’s P1.136-trillion proposed national budget for 2007.

The DDB official reported local drug users reached a peak of 9.3 million in 2001, or more than 10 percent of the country’s population of 84 million.

Suarez said the figure went down to 6.7 million in 2005.

"Because of the scarcity of supply, the prices of shabu per gram surged to P5,000 per gram (at current price) from P2,000 per gram in 1999 when our first survey was made," Cruz explained.

"At least there’s an improvement from what we had in 2001," he added.

According to the DDB, the profile of a drug dependent is usually in his late 20s, mostly male, single, unemployed or only has a P13,000 monthly income, a high school graduate, lives in urban areas and has been a user for "more than six years."

Shabu remains to be the "most frequently abused drug," followed by marijuana, industrial glue or rugby, cough syrup and the designer drug Ecstasy.

Suarez, for his part, warned about the possibility that drug lords can buy anything in the country, including law enforcement and the judiciary.

Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco, vice chairman of the House committee on public order and security, agreed with the observation made by Suarez.

"That’s why these drug lords can always buy their way out," he said.