Philippines

The Philippines did not report trends for use and rank of drugs in the country to DAINAP for the years 2006 and 2007. However, the rank of the three most common drugs have remained the same in 2008 as compared to 2005, with crystalline methamphetamine being the most common, followed by cannabis and inhalants. In 2008, benzodiazepines were ranked as the fourth most common drug. The trends for all four of the top drugs of concern were reported to be on the decline in terms of use. Nalbuphine hydrochloride was ranked fifth in 2008 with a reported increasing trend.

Traditionally, the Philippines has had very low levels of intravenous drug use with most involving nalbuphine hydrochloride. As a result, the risk of HIV spread through that particular behavior is relatively low.

Arrest, seizure and price data

Drug-related arrests have been on a decrease in the Philippines since 2003 when more than 30,000 arrestswere reported. The trend leveled off between 2006 and 2008 with about 10,000 arrests reportedannually. The Philippines do not disaggregate drug related arrest by drug type, nationality orgender in annual data reported to DAINAP.

Cannabis seizures are reported by Philippines in a number of specific categories. Cannabis herb seizures increased in 2008 to 3.7 tons, up from the 1.2 tons seized the year before, but were down sharply from the 11.1 tons seized in 2006. Confiscations and seizures of cannabis plants were up by almost 30% in 2008 compared to 2007, while there was more than an eleven-fold increase in seizures of cannabis seedlings between 2007 and 2008, suggesting the existence of large scale domestic plantations and nurseries.

The fluctuation in methamphetamine seizures has been accompanied by shifts in modus operandi of the clandestine manufacturers. Prior to 1997, most methamphetamine for the domestic market was smuggled into the country, but by 1999, increasing amounts of seized methamphetamine were manufactured domestically with operations uncovered at Calayan Island in the north and in Angeles City. By 2005, clandestine operations had moved into more urban areas, closer to consumers in and around Manila, however successful law enforcement efforts in 2006/07 shifted clandestine manufacturing to remote rural areas. The size, sophistication and concealment of clandestine operations throughout this period also improved. Several foreign nationals have been arrested in relation to recent clandestine laboratory operations (PDEA, 2008).

A number of clandestine laboratory operations have been dismantled in the Philippines during the past decade. One ethamphetamine laboratory was dismantled in 1999, 3 in 2001, 4 in 2002 while 11 manufacture sites and 10 storage facilities were uncovered in 2003. The same number was dismantled in 2004. In 2005, 4 ketamine manufacture facilities, together with 7 methamphetamine sites and 5 storage locations, were dismantled. The indication in 2006 that illicit laboratory operations might be returning to the higher pre-2003 levels was confirmed in 2007 and 2008 with 9 and 10 methamphetamine manufacture facilities being uncovered, respectively.

Ephedrine precursor seizures in the Philippines peaked in 2003 and 2004 with over 5.5 tons seized each year. Although several clandestine methamphetamine laboratory operations have been uncovered between 2006 and 2008, reported ephedrine seizures have been low with 57 kg reported in 2007 and 53 kg in 2008. It is unclear why the overall quantity of ephedrine seized during the past two years has declined, while the number of seized methamphetamine production facilities have increased over the same period.