SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Congress
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S E N A T E
S.B. No.
21
3 0 ?016
BILLS
Introduced by SENATOR GREGORIO B. HONASAN II
AN ACT
AUTHORIZING THE WIRETAPPING, INTERCEPTION, SURVEILLANCE AND 
RECORDING 
OF 
COMMUNICATIONS 
OF 
PUSHERS, 
MANUFACTURERS, 
CULTIVATORS, IMPORTERS AND FINANCIERS OF DANGEROUS DRUGS, 
AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9165 AND FOR OTHER 
PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the “Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, declares that “it 
is the policy of the State to safeguard the integrity of its tenitory and the well-being of its citizenry, 
particularly the youth, from the harmful effects of dangerous dmgs on their physical and mental 
well-being, and to defend the same against acts of omissions detrimental to their development and 
preservation. In view of the foregoing, the State needs to enhance further the efficacy of the law 
against dangerous drugs, it being one of today’s more serious social ills.”
The Philippines is a transit and destination country for illegal drugs, particularly 
methamphetamine, as well as a limited source of marijuana for mostly local consumption. 
Methamphetamine and marijuana remain the two most widely consumed illicit drugs. The 2013 
UN Transnational Crime Report estimated that the Philippines had 960,000 methamphetamine 
users, approximately 2.1 percent of the adult population aged 16 to 64 — one of the highest rates 
in Asia. Chinese and African organized crime groups traffic large amounts of methamphetamine 
into the Philippines, and transnational trafficking groups remain involved in producing 
methamphetamine within the country, though this may be declining. (US Department State, 2015 
International Narcotics Strategy Report)
According to the Dangerous Drags Board, an estimated 1.7 million Filipinos are hooked on drugs. 
Back in 2012, The United Nations World Drag Report indicated that the Philippines had the 
highest abuse rate of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu in East Asia. Although the local 
manufacture of methamphetamine hydrochloride has reportedly gone down following suceessful 
raids on shabu laboratories, enforcement agencies have noted a trend of African shabu being 
smuggled into the country for the local drug trade and transshipment to other countries.
The government has embarked on an unrelenting campaign against the trafficking and use of 
dangerous drags yet their distribution and use appear to be as persistent as the efforts to check 
them. It will take more than the present methods to address the drag trade which has assumed 
global proportions and now poses a threat to national security. 
We need to upgrade our 
countermeasures against this global menace.
Many of the principals openly lead deceptively normal, legitimate lives and even donate to charity 
while keeping their underworld activities hidden under a securely layered organizational and 
corporate structure. The nareotics trade cannot be stopped by cutting off the tentacles while 
leaving the head intact. Retailers may be rounded up and drag couriers prosecuted but they are 
expandable. Meanwhile, dangerous drags continue to flourish despite continuing arrests and stiff 
penalties. It is lucrative industry that rakes in money for untouchable drag lords, even as it exploits 
poor victims.