EDITORIAL: SHORT-CIRCUITING THE ANTIDRUGS LAW

SECTION 21 of the Dangerous Drugs Act orders the burning of all
confiscated illegal drugs within 24 hours after they are admitted as
evidence in court. The provision safeguards against the evidence being
pilfered and the drugs finding their way back to the streets.

On paper Section 21 looks pretty impressive. In reality, it is largely
unheeded, as Senate President Franklin Drilon pointed out last week.
Mr. Drilon was appalled to learn that the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency has not destroyed about 90 percent of the illegal drugs it has
confiscated. According to the agency's director, Anselmo Avenido, less
than 500 kilos of the 3,730 kilos of shabu seized by PDEA agents have
been burned. The rest are under lock and key in PDEA laboratories.

Mr. Avenido blamed the failure to enforce Section 21 on the
halfhearted cooperation the PDEA has been getting from judges and
prosecutors in securing evidence in drug-related cases. Mr. Drilon
sternly reminded him that the immediate burning of confiscated illegal
substances is "obligatory and mandatory."

We agree with the Senate President. The close to 4,000 kilos of shabu
in PDEA custody is too tempting a prize for a corrupt law enforcer to
pass up. He knows he can make a tidy sum by filching small amounts of
the substance and selling them. Or he can be greedy enough to run away
with a substantial hoard and find a big-time drug dealer for a buyer.
It has happened many times before.

The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act was passed in 2002 with much
fanfare. It was meant to inject new vigor to the government's
lackluster campaign against illegal drugs. The country had been
gaining notoriety as a major dropoff point for drug manufacturers who
had been chased out of China. Big Chinese drug dealers set up shop in
the Philippines and ran their operation with impunity. But even more
alarming was the rise in the number of drug users in the country-from
20,000 in 1972 to 2.1 million in 2002, by one government estimate.

President Arroyo decided it was time for tough measures. The new drug
law is almost draconian in prescribing the death penalty not only for
drug dealing but possession of as little as 500 grams of marijuana, 10
grams of opium and 50 grams of shabu. There are even stiff penalties
for using cell phones or the Internet to make drug deals.

A lot of work went into crafting the new drug law. A lot of hope is
also pinned on it. Now we are told by the chief enforcer of that law
that it is not 100-percent enforceable, that it is being screwed up by
uncooperative judicial officials. We believe it is an obstacle that
can be easily removed. As Mr. Drilon has suggested, all it takes if
for the Supreme Court to order all judges and prosecutors to strictly
comply with Section 21.

The law must prevail. There are no ifs and buts about it.