"x x x.
Philippines as a narco state
They explained that they had been investigating Lacson for some time and that they had accumulated information about Lacson’s alleged connections with the drug cartels in Hong Kong and in China.
They said that the Chinese smuggle the ethyl phenyl acetate drugs into the Philippines where they are then used in the making of the methamphetamine drug popularly known as shabu.
“When he was PNP Chief, Lacson was the main protector of the Chinese drug cartels,” one DEA officer said.
The officers shared their fear that if Lacson were to ever be elected president of the Philippines, he would turn the country into a “narco state,” like Colombia. This would mean Filipino tourists could expect to be regularly searched at US airports for being potential drug mules.
This explained to me why Lacson did not use his pork barrel allotment as other senators did during his 12 years as senator. He simply did not need it.
I recalled then that in June of 2002, three Philippine Senate committees had conducted extensive hearings on Lacson’s involvement in drug trafficking. Among the witnesses who testified was Mary “Rosebud” Ong, an undercover PNP officer who described how the PNP under Gen. Lacson had become a “revolving door” where drugs seized one day were back in the streets the following day.
Rosebud accused Lacson of working with and for the “14K”, the largest and most violent of the Hong Kong-based triad societies engaged in large-scale drug trafficking. Founded in 1945 by 14 members of the Kuomintang who then fled to Hong Kong following the victory of the Communists in 1949, the 14K triad has grown and expanded into mainland China; where its members regularly cross from HK to avoid police security.
The three senate committees had drafted a joint 100 page report (Senate Committee Report No. 66) whose release Sen. Lacson had succeeded in blocking. “Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday succeeded in blocking the adoption of Senate Committee Report No. 66 which recommended that he be indicted for the capital offense of kidnapping, drug trafficking, smuggling and summary executions.” (“Lacson Blocks Senate Inquiry Report About Him” Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 6, 2003).
In successfully blocking the release of the damaging Senate report, Lacson was aided by Sen. Loren Legarda, then Senate majority floor leader. Philippine Daily Inquirer Columnist Belinda Olivares-Cunanan explained her likely motive. “Current talk is that Legarda has not acted on it (Report 66) in order to protect Lacson, who has invited her to be his running mate.” (“Let’s have that report”, June 25, 2003).
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