Pubdate:  Sat, 20 Sep 1997
Source: Kyodo News Service    

MANILA, Sept. 20 (Kyodo)  A Philippine court has dismissed a petition
against a novel antidrug campaign pursued by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim that
identifies the homes of suspected drug pushers, court officials said
Saturday. 

Judge Librado Correa of Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 164 on
Friday dismissed a petition filed by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)
and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) questioning the legality of
the mayor's campaign, the officials said. 

In dismissing the petition of the CHR and the IBP, Correa said the
petitioners ''failed to establish their legal standing'' to question Lim's
effort to weed out drug pushers in Manila. 

Correa pointed out that the petitioners were not the ones directly affected
by the campaign, and said that ''logically'' they had ''no reason to
complain.'' 

The IBP criticized the court's decision and vowed to take the case before
higher courts. 

More than 300 houses of suspected pushers have been painted with signs
reading ''Keep off: a drug pusher lives here,'' or ''Drug pushers get
out,'' since the ''shamethepusher'' campaign was started in July and
before it was temporarily suspended by Correa on July 31. 

The police Narcotics Command (NARCOM) said the country's illegal drugs
industry nets at least 8.7 billion U.S. dollars annually. 

NARCOM said there are more than 1.7 million Filipinos who use prohibited
drugs. 

Lim blamed weak laws for the uncontrolled proliferation of drugs, saying
that under present laws a pusher arrested by the police in the morning can
post bail in the afternoon and resume trading drugs in the evening.