Although terrorism and the dreaded severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS are now occupying the headlines, the government is not completely forgetting the third of the triple threat that is keeping its hands full these days -- the battle against streets crimes, more particularly drug trafficking.

In a recent Command Conference on Street Crimes attended by police commanders from regional and district directors down to the station and precint commanders, it was established that the most common street crimes are drug-pushing, snatching of cell phones, jewelry and purse, pick pocketing, swindling, mugging and rape, and robbery of small establishments.

While the Philippine National Police (PNP) has made progress in the pursuit of big-time crime syndicates, the conference established that the response to street crimes, in the minds of the people, has not been satisfactory.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has stressed time and again that ordinary crime cases, whose victims are mostly ordinary citizens, demand police attention.

That is why in her surprise visits to police stations recently, she emphasized focus on police performance at the station and precinct levels in order to curb street crimes and help the victims.

During the same command conference, it was also reported that official statistics from the Dangerous Drugs Board indicate that there are around 1.8 million regular users and 1.6 million occasional users of drugs in the country with shabu as the main drug of choice.

The statistics confirmed that the single biggest threat to law and order today is drug trafficking.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Anselmo Avenido has reported that last year, the number of drug-affected barangays totaled 3,489 or eight percent of the country’s 42,000 barangays.

He said that as a result of the intelligence workshop conducted by the PDEA, 11 transnational drug syndicates and 215 local organized drug groups were identified to be operating in the country.

The PDEA chief said the increase in production capacity, the ease in world travel, modern communications and globalization have led shabu-source countries to look for new markets.

And the Philippines, just like the other countries in the Asian region, is one of the main targets for this expansion, he added.

Avenido said shabu is smuggled into the country through four major avenues: seaports, international airports, mail and parcel services and the vast expanse of the Philippine coastlines.

Shabu from China, he said, is smuggled into the country mainly through the shorelines of Northern and Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog, specifically Batangas, Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, Zambales, Aurora, Quezon and the Mindoro provinces.

Other probable landing sites, according to Avenido are Masbate, Palawan, Sorsogon, South Cotabato, Davao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The result of the consequent government vigilance against drug traffic has allowed the government to swoop down on a number of drug laboratories in the country, busted drug syndicates and haul down drug lords into jail, according to Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye.

The health ministers said they were "convinced of the effectiveness of the screening of passengers before they leave affected areas in preventing the spread of SARS," warning that "even one single infectious case can lead into a serious outbreak unless rigorous measures are taken."

The Asean countries will make it mandatory for all travelers from affected countries to fill up SARS health declaration forms.

PIKIT, Cotabato – The state has placed health on top of its list of vital services to be rendered evacuees when the latter return to the homes and farms they left behind at the height of February’s fierce fighting between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

The government is bent on putting up rural health centers – run by public medics and equipped with enough medical supplies – in war-ravaged areas to look after the primary health needs of the people.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, during her visit to this agro-fishery rich town last Tuesday (April 22), has directed health officials to work on the speedy establishment of the health centers in villages here.

The President sought for one such health center to immediately operate in Bagoinged, where she discussed with local leaders the normalization of peace and security conditions in the area and the socio-economic growth of its residents.

The health centers will institutionalize the delivery of vital health services being provided in the meantime by Itinerant Medical Teams (IMT) of the Department of Health’s Regional Health Unit (RHU) in evacuation camps.

DOH regional epidemiologist Dr. Marlow Niñal said the IMTs have been conducting regular evacuation camp rounds focused on disease detection, prevention and treatment.

Patients needing hospitalization are immediately referred to hospitals. The program is coordinated with non-government group Tabang Mindanaw and the Pikit Municipal Health Office.

Niñal said the DOH action would prevent further disease-related fatalities, adding that diarrhea and measles remained the leading causes of deaths in the evacuation camps here.

He reported that as of March 31, at least 10 of the 36 deaths noted in the camps were caused by diarrhea.

Following closely were eight deaths due to measles. Other causes of mortality included pneumonia, seven deaths, tuberculosis, one death; and other, 10 deaths.

Niñal said at least 708 cases of diarrhea and 184 cases of measles were documented since the evacuation camps were put up last February following the military’s recapture of the MILF’s biggest lair, the Buliok Complex.

He attributed the situation to the "deterioration in environmental sanitation."

This included, among others, poor safeguarding and water quality; improper disposal of human excreta, wastewater and garbage; inadequate insect, pest and rodent control; unsafe food handling; and the absence of or non-maintenance of site drainage.

Toilet facilities installed in a number of evacuation camps have become non-functional because of lack of water supply and maintenance.

Malacañang today enjoined businessmen to help the government cope with the national emergency spawned by the fact that the country is no longer free of the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye issued the call in reaction to reports that some unscrupulous businessmen have taken advantage of the situation by raising prices of surgical masks.

He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to closely monitor such trading malpractices.

In a radio interview, Bunye said he also received reports that even dealers of Vitamin C have raised prices too.

"Kung kinakailangan ay gamitan ng stricter sanctions iyong mga nagsasamantala sa bagay na ito; dahil hindi nararapat na itong kalamidad, itong national emergency at gamiting pagkakataong para kumita ng pera itong ilang mga negosyante (If needed, stricter sanctions should be applied against businessmen who take advantage of the national emergency)," he said.

Bunye called on consumers to provide the DTI and other government agencies specific details of drugstores or businessmen who exact exorbitant prices on surgical masks and other SARS-related preventive medical supplies.

He also thanked Jaime Cardinal Sin for advising the Catholic faithful on SARS prevention measures.

"Ito’y isang educational tool, information tool na pinapakita na talagang kailangan tayo ay mag-ingat at para hindi kumalat ang sakit na SARS (this is an educational and information tool that impresses that we need to watch out against SARS and prevent its possible spread)," he said.

Malacañang today announced that Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando has opted to give up his concurrent position as Public Works and Highways Secretary.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Fernando would remain as MMDA chairman.

Bunye also announced the designation of Florante Soriquez as acting secretary. Soriquez, until his designation today, was undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Soriquez is a career employee who rose from the ranks to become assistant regional director to assistant secretary and then undersecretary of the DPWH.

A native of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, Soriquez, 61, earned his civil engineering degree from the Mapua Institute of Technology. He further honed his education by completing a bridge engineering course in West Germany and completing a master in management degree at the Philippine Christian University.

He has attended numerous national and foreign training courses related to his work. Two of the courses he recently finished were separately conducted in Germany and the United States.

He began his employment in 1962 as a humble laborer helping build the Manila International Airport Driveway. He was also involved in the construction of Guadalupe Interchange at EDSA, and the Tramo Road in Pasay City.

From then on, he moved up the ladder of success. He moved up to become a survey aide, foreman, civil engineering aide, associate civil engineer, supervisor, project manager, assistant regional director, assistant secretary and then undersecretary.

Malacañang today announced that Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando has opted to give up his concurrent position as Public Works and Highways Secretary.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Fernando would remain as MMDA chairman.

Bunye also announced the designation of Florante Soriquez as acting secretary. Soriquez, until his designation today, was undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Fernando, during his short stint as DPWH Secretary, has accomplished very significant and effective changes true to his "style and commitment" that has won for him the respect of peers and foes alike.

Being DPWH Secretary and MMDA Chairman at the same time, he has improved the working relationship between the two agencies especially in the implementation of various projects such as roads, bridges, pedestrian overpasses, and other structures.

Fernando, noting the DPWH’s role as the state’s engineering arm, had promoted correct engineering as the "hallmark" of the agency, resulting in better and improved utility of public infrastructure and effected substantial savings and costs while minimizing corruption.

He has also pushed better design of structures, closely reviewing the design of ongoing and proposed projects.

He had directed that cost estimates be made realistic; introduced "value engineering" concepts where designs even on ongoing projects could be reviewed and changed and the unnecessary components on the previous design eliminated.

He fully supported the effort of the DPWH to come up with the AASHTO (Association of American State Highway Transportation Officials) software whereby realistic cost estimates of projects can be determined; thus, possible collusion among contractors can also be checked.

He ordered the review and counterchecking of designs from the district engineering offices to the regional offices and then the Central Office - Bureau of Design.

He initiated the clearing of national roads to preserve the road rights-of-way for future expansion and made the roadways safer so that higher travel speeds could be attained.

Fernando issued a department order directing all district engineering offices nationwide to undertake the clearing of national roads of illegal structures and obstructions.

District engineering offices have been enforcing the order, causing the widening of road carriageways for the safety and convenience of motorists.

He also facilitated the devolution of project implementation functions to DPWH field offices.

He directed the preparation of road designs incorporating the current and future plans for each road.

Fernando noted the absence of this, which rendered most works arbitrary and causing disorder in road networks and made future expansion programs more costly.