Drugs spread AIDS
THE Dangerous Acts of 1972 which I authored and sponsored in the Senate was approved and improved with amendments, thanks to my colleagues in the Senate. I never thought that drugs would become one of the most serious problems that we would face in the future.
In that law, the drugs mentioned were opium and its derivatives and the coca drugs (cocaine). There was no shabu then, even in the minds of the drug criminal syndicates. However in that law that we passed, we already included other drugs that could appear from other chemical discoveries. So we provided ample powers to the Dangerous Drugs Board to include other substances under the definition of prohibited dangerous drugs.
Today’s amended Dangerous Drugs Act law was adequate at the time it was passed to confront the existing drug problem. However, we should now amend the present Dangerous Drug Law for the following reasons: First, even some government areas like the Bilibid prison has become the source for the distribution/ manufacture of drugs. The drug criminal “business” is so lucrative that even some LGU officials are suspected of being the protectors and/or distributors and manufacturers of dangerous drugs.
One suspected source here in my province of Cebu is said to be a factory of shabu inside a jail facility.
We commend the many law enforcement officers who have made arrests in connection with drugs. However we see that most of the arrests are of the small-time shabu retail sellers rather than the drug lord type of criminals who are caught making the drugs.
The other problem that our authorities have to focus on is the rapid increase in the number of HIV-positive residents on the island of Cebu. As of last count, they were close to 4,000 HIV cases in the province. About 70% of them are in Cebu City. In short, the report said that about 22 persons a day or about one every hour are contaminated with the HIV virus in Cebu. About two thirds of them are infected through the common use of needles. I think these persons are drug addicts.
I suppose that part of the increase of HIV cases in Cebu is because of the influx of tourists. Some of them may be carriers of the disease. Another reason, could be some of our Filipino OFW (Overseas Foreign Workers) who are working abroad may have been infected by the virus and upon their return to our country infect our population. From the last figure I saw, there are now in the Philippines about 25 thousand people who are HIV-positive.
Fortunately, there are now many drugs that can stop the progress of the disease in the human body. Regretfully, there is still no cure for the disease. It is hoped by the scientific community that there will be one soon. In the meantime what should the government do? First, there should be more information given to the public, especially those leaving for overseas jobs. And also the employees in tourist-related industries. Second, a more a vigorous campaign against dangerous drugs should be launched. Third, what about measures to discover and keep HIV-positive persons from entering our country? This idea would be difficult to accomplish! Fourth, how about stronger action to prevent the spread of disease – including the giving of free medicines to HIV patients? Since these are expensive, why not lift the copyright and patent law in so far as it concerns the manufacture of the anti-HIV drugs in the Philippines? And finally, a review of the present dangerous drugs acts and other criminal laws to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease.