RP target market for cheaper cocaine, says Sotto

The Philippines is allegedly being targeted by an international drug syndicate as a market for a cheaper kind of cocaine, Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III revealed. "My worry is they’re trying to shift the shabu dependents from the poor man's cocaine (shabu) to the real cocaine," Sotto told reporters during a weekly forum at the Senate on Thursday. He said he received intelligence information that the syndicate is reportedly offering cocaine at an "introductory price" of P3,000 to P3,500 per gram or P3.3 million per kilo, compared to the current price of shabu which is pegged at P7,000 per gram or P7 million per kilo. He said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police have already been informed about the matter. "Hopefully we can call for a drug summit so that the entire country will be in its toes," said the senator, who was also the former head of the Dangerous Drugs Board. He said citizens must be "vigilant" against such elements. "As long as there are drug dependents there will be drug pushing. We have to improve on our prevention program…and rehabilitation program," he said. According to Sotto, more than 50 percent of inmates all over the country have been jailed because of drug-related offenses. He thus wants to establish a national state penitentiary that would exclusively house inmates convicted of drug-related charges. "This will appease the anti-death penalty (people) but will give teeth again to the illegal drugs fight of the government," he said. He is likewise seeking the passage of a bill that would include drug rehabilitation as one of the benefits of the Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth). He said the proposal would make the rehabilitation for drug dependents possible for those who cannot afford it. He said he already talked with PhilHealth and the Department of Health about the proposal. "The government is capable of doing this... we just have to amend the PhilHealth law to do it," he said. Sotto said there are 96 rehabilitation centers nationwide, only 23 of which are state-owned.–VVP, GMANews.TV