30 Show biz celebs monitored for drugs

By Cecille Suerte Felipe and Non Alquitran (The Philippine Star) | Updated October 10, 2016 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines – At least 30 entertainment celebrities believed hooked on illegal drugs are being monitored by the Philippine National Police (PNP), it was learned yesterday.
A new list of celebrities allegedly into drugs came from radio disc jockey Karen Bordador, who was arrested recently along with her boyfriend at a condominium unit in Pasig City for possession of party drugs, according to Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
Actor Mark Anthony Fernandez, who was arrested in Pampanga last week with a kilo of marijuana, was in an old list, Albayalde said.
“We have an old and a new list, which we are now subjecting to a validation process (through) our intelligence units,” Albayalde said in an interview.
He said Senior Superintendent Eleazar Matta, NCRPO intelligence chief, would spearhead a workshop among intelligence officers of his five police districts and 38 police stations this week to evaluate and validate their lists of celebrities allegedly into drugs.
This developed as Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa disclosed that the PNP lacked funds for the government’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
(source:http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/10/10/1632120/30-show-biz-celebs-monitored-drugs)

 

 

 

 

Convicts tag De Lima as drug trade protector

By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) | Updated October 11, 2016 - 12:00am

GO AHEAD, ARREST ME: Sen. Leila de Lima prays during a mass marking World Day Against the Death Penalty at the CBCP chapel in Intramuros, Manila yesterday. She dared authorities to arrest her on drug charges. EDD GUMBAN

MANILA, Philippines - She was fully aware of the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary when she was justice secretary and got a total of P10 million for her silence, a high-value inmate said yesterday, referring to Sen. Leila de Lima, whom he called the “protector” of convicted drug lords.
“Protector, ganun po ang dating. Wala po kaming ibang pinagkukunan ng pera (Protector, that’s how it was. There was nowhere else we could get money),” 36-year-old convicted kidnapper Jaybee Sebastian told the House committee on justice at the resumption yesterday of the hearing on the alleged illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
He was replying to questions from Compostela Valley Rep. Ruwel Peter Gonzaga.
Sebastian, who dropped out of college after his third year in Customs administration, also disclosed he “directly” gave P2 million to the former DOJ chief, who told him to leave the box containing the money in the office of then Bureau of Corrections director Franklin Bucayu.
Sebastian said he gave the bulk or P8 million to De Lima’s Presidential Security Group aide Joenel Sanchez between March and May 2015, but which the close-in security categorically denied, claiming he “resigned” as PSG detail in March of the same year.
 (source:http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/10/11/1632455/convicts-tag-de-lima-drug-trade-protector)

Israel willing to assist Philippines

 versus war on illegal drugs

by Rodel Alzona - October 8, 2016

 

ISRAEL is willing to work with the Philippine government in its campaign to rid the country of what it has termed as a widespread drug menace that is affecting millions of Filipinos.

Israel Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau said no country is spared of the illegal-drugs problem and that they are willing to cooperate and share their know-how in handling the issue with the administration of President Duterte.

“The illegal-drugs trade is global.  It is an industry that is present and being distributed worldwide. It is a constant struggle against its supply and infrastructure.  We are willing to share information and best practices. We can all learn from one another,” Matityau said.

He added: “Socially and economically, illegal drugs combine to make a disaster.  It is a major destabilizer of society.  It can destroy families.”

Matityau even said in the Middle East, the spread of illegal drugs can even be directly related to terrorist groups.

However, Matityau said the problem of illegal drugs differs from one country to another and that there is no singular solution to the menace.

“The nature of illegal drugs varies in every country.  You cannot copy what is being done in another country but you can learn elements, methodology and techniques from them,” he said.

Matityau said the best solution toward controlling the illegal-drugs problem is through education, as he believes it can act as a preventive measure in its use spread.

He also said to reduce the number of drug users, there has to be a deep level of cooperation between the government and non-governmental organizations.

Still, Matityau said they are able to control the drug menace from spreading in their country through good police work.

“We are a small society of just 8 million people. It is not a major epidemic. Still, law-enforcement operation is vital and gathering of intelligence is a serious issue,” he said, while adding that in principle they do not have a death penalty in their country even for terrorists.

According to Matityau, the youth in Israel are the most vulnerable to the drug menace.

“They young are very impressionable young people.  It is not a major percentage but it can get serious from time-to-time,” he said.

After drawing the anger of the international Jewish community, President Duterte has apologized for drawing a parallel to how Adolf Hitler massacred 6 million Jews during World War II and his plans to kill 3 million Filipinos who use or are involved in illegal drugs. 

(source:http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/israel-willing-to-assist-philippines-versus-war-on-illegal-drugs)

 

 

PNP arrests Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa

By CNN Staff Philippines

Updated 12:33 PM EST Wed, October 5, 2016

Metro Manila (Philippines CNN) -   A town mayor by President Rodrigo Duterte linked to the illegal drug trade was arrested by police Wednesday.

Rolando Espinosa, Sr., 54, mayor of the town of Albuera in the central Philippine province of Leyte was taken into custody and charged with illegal possession of dangerous drugs and firearms, following a warrant for his arrest issued by Regional Trial Court of the Supreme Court branch 14 on Tuesday.

No bail was recommended.

In the warrant of arrest, the mayor's son Roland "Kerwin" Espinosa was also ordered arrested. The younger Espinosa remains at large and police said he is believed to have fled to Malaysia.

Mayor Espinosa was among the local government officials identified by President Duterte as protectors of illegal drug activities.

The arrest came almost two months after authorities seized 11 kilograms of shabu worth ₱ 88 million (USD 1.8 million) and ingredients used for making bombs in a raid on Espinosa's house last August 10.

Prior to the raid, on August 2, Espinosa turned himself in to police and the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, fearing for his life as President Duterte announced a 24-hour ultimatum for him and his son to surrender or be shot.

Espinosa admitted to PNP Chief Roland Dela Rosa that Kerwin was involved in illegal drug activities in Mindanao, the group of islands in the central Philippines. The mayor also said his son obtained his supply of illegal drugs from drug lord Peter detained Co and from a local prison in the town of Abuyog in Leyte. Espinosa returned to his hometown in Cebu on August 16, closely monitored by police.
(source:http://cnnphilippines.com/regional/2016/10/05/PNP-arrests-Albuera-Mayor-Rolando-Espinosa.html)

DDB: Philippines has 1.8 million current drug users

The survey commissioned by the Dangerous Drugs Board estimates that 4.8 million Filipinos aged 10-69 years old used illegal drugs at least once in their lives

by: Jodesz Gavilan @jodeszgavilan Published 2:45 PM, September 19, 2016                                         Updated 3:13 PM, September 19, 2016

DRUG USERS. Alleged drug addicts and pushers wait to undergo drug tests following their surrender to authorities at Camp Karingal police station in Manila on June 22, 2016. Photo by Noel Celis/AFP

MANILA, Philippines — There are 1.8 million current drug users in the Philippines or 1.8% of the total population of 100.98 million, results of the Dangerous Drugs Board’s latest survey on the drug use situation in the Philippines show.

According to the 2015 Nationwide Survey on the Nature and Extent of Drug Abuse in the Philippines presented on Monday, September 19, the current drug use prevalence among Filipinos aged 10 to 69 years old is at 2.3%, or an estimated 1.8 million users.

Filipinos aged 10 to 69 years old comprise around 75% of the total Philippine population as of 2015.

Current drug users refer to individuals who are currently using or have used illegal drugs more than once from January 1, 2015, until February 5, 2016.

The 2015 figure is higher than the 1.3 million drug users estimated in 2012 and 1.7 million estimated in 2008.

Commissioned by DDB, the survey on national drug abuse situation was conducted by Resources, Environment and Economics Center for Studies Incorporated (REECS) from December 5, 2015, to February 5, 2016, among 5,000 respondents across the Philippines. It had a ±0.9 margin error. 

(source:http://www.rappler.com/nation/146654-drug-use-survey-results-dangerous-drugs-board-philippines-2015) 

Drug lords killed, injured in Philippine jail

• Posted 28 Sep 2016 20:28
• Updated 28 Sep 2016 20:30

Police special action force personnel look on as funeral parlour workers carry the body of drug convict Peter Co, who was killed in a knifing incident inside the national penitentiary in suburban Manila's Muntinlupa City on September 28, 2016. (Photo: AFP/Ted Aljibe)

MANILA: A man accused by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of being the nation's top drug trafficker was injured and a gang member killed during jailhouse knife attacks on Wednesday (Sep 28), authorities said.
Two other high-profile inmates were injured in the violence at Manila's notorious Bilibid National Penitentiary, from where Duterte has said much of the nation's illegal drug trade is run.
"It appears there was a knife fight," Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said.
Duterte won the presidential election in a landslide in May after promising to kill 100,000 criminals as part of a campaign against illegal drugs.
More than 3,700 people have been killed in the less than three months he has been in office, prompting widespread criticism from Western governments and rights groups about a breakdown in the rule of law.
Duterte has railed against the criticism, vowing to do what is necessary to stop the Philippines from becoming a narco state.
He had targeted Bilibid prison as one of the hotspots for the drug trade and accused Peter Co, one of the men injured on Wednesday, as being the biggest drug trafficker.
On July 8 Duterte said Co ran a drug empire from inside his prison cell, supplying Manila and the main island of Luzon, with the help of corrupt officials in the previous government.
"So my appeal to them is, since they are beyond redemption, they can stop and commit suicide, because I will not allow these idiots to run their show. Not during my watch," Duterte told reporters.
Prison officials said the six men involved in Wednesday's violence were all top gang leaders who attacked each other at a maximum security wing of the jail, where they had been segregated as a security measure.
They did not explain how the weapons got into the jail.
The man killed was Tony Co, no relation to Peter Co but a member of the same prison gang and also a convicted drug trafficker.
Senator Leila de Lima, one of Duterte's most outspoken critics over the killings in the war on crime, accused the government of organising the knife attacks.
"It makes this government an assassin state," de Lima told reporters.
Both Duterte and Aguirre denied de Lima's allegation.
Duterte has in turn accused de Lima of being involved in the prison drug trade when she was justice secretary in the previous government, allegations she denies.

- AFP/hs

(source:http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/drug-lords-killed-injured-in-philippine-jail/3163508.html)

Int'l criminal court should probe Duterte's war on drugs

Former International Criminal Court official and Harvard law professor Alex Whiting says an urgent action from the court will send a strong signal to President Rodrigo Duterte.

by: Carmela Fonbuena

@carmelafonbuena

Published 9:36 AM, October 05, 2016

Updated 11:07 AM, October 05, 2016    

JOINED IN 2001. The court that investigates genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity has jurisdiction on the Philippines. Photo from ICC web site.

MANILA, Philippines – A former official of the International Criminal Court (ICC) called on the court to open a probe into President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, arguing that the President's own words "are compelling evidence that the killings to date have been sanctioned at the highest levels."

"The time has come for the ICC to open a preliminary examination – the first step toward a full investigation – into allegations of the extrajudicial killings of as many as 3,000 suspected drug-dealers and users since Duterte became President last June," said Alex Whiting, a Harvard Law professor and former ICC official, in a blog posted on Just Security on Monday, October 3.

He said the killings are “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population” and thus constitute crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute.

"The appalling announcement of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines that he would like 'to slaughter' 3 million drug addicts in his country, much as 'Hitler massacred three million Jews,' (never mind that it was in fact six million), requires an immediate response from the International Criminal Court (ICC)," he added.

Whiting hopes that an urgent action from ICC can "contribute to the prevention of crimes."

"Opening a preliminary examination now does not commit the ICC to any ultimate course of action: it could subsequently decide or not decide to begin a full investigation. Starting an inquiry now, however, would unquestionably send a strong signal to Duterte that the day may come when he will have to answer for any crimes he has committed, ordered, tolerated or encouraged in the Philippines," Whiting said.

The ICC investigates genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Whiting previously served the ICC to oversee all of its investigations.

ICC’s latest conviction was in March 2016, when it declared former Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of knowingly commanding a militia that committed mass murder and rape against neighboring Central African Republic.

(source:http://www.rappler.com/nation/148243-icc-probe-duterte-drugs-war)