Lacson: Strengthening Foreign Liaisons Needed in Anti-Drug War

Strengthening foreign liaisons could be just what the doctor ordered in the government's war against illegal drugs.

Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson said this was the formula that he used in his law enforcement days to coordinate with other countries in preventing the entry of illegal drugs to the Philippines.

"Lahat na bansa kinakausap namin. Part yan ng prevention, market constriction effort (We coordinated at the time with liaisons from all countries, as part of our efforts to prevent the entry of illegal drugs)," Lacson said in an interview on TeleRadyo.

He said that when he headed the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), he had a unit that concentrated on foreign liaisons to exchange intelligence information, among others.

Lacson noted the PAOCTF's liaison group would coordinate with anti-drug authorities of allies like the United States, Hong Kong, and Australia.

Such an approach could be helpful in the present time, where drugs are brought into the Philippines through technical smuggling, Lacson said.

Lacson also reiterated the need to make sure the Bureau of Customs' processes are modernized, computerized and automated, to bring down if not eliminate the opportunities for human intervention - and corruption.