MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives is closer to passing a bill authorizing wire tapping in illegal drugs trade cases as a congressional panel has approved the proposed measure in second reading.
Iligan City Rep. Vicente Belmonte Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs and principal author of House Bill 6107, said the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 has provided the drug law enforcement units the arsenal for the government’s all-out war against the drug menace.
However, Belmonte said, despite the accomplishments in supply and demand reduction, drug syndicates have become fearless and found ways to do their illegal trade.
He said that convicted drug lords operate within the secured confines of their detention facilities, clandestine laboratories are set-up in exclusive villages and high rise condominiums at the heart of Metro Manila, drug peddlers have grown in numbers.
"There is an urgent need to equip our drug law enforcers with the capability to stop the drug menace at its very core, to cut the roots of the drug syndicates and convict drug lords and not just the peddlers," Belmonte said.
According to Belmonte, in most anti-drug operations, only the small players are rounded up while the drug lords remain scot-free.
The measure shall strengthen the anti-drug campaign of government by authorizing law enforcers to wiretap, intercept and record the communications and surveillance of pushers, manufacturers, cultivators, importers and financiers of dangerous drugs, Belmonte said.