‘Philippines now a client state of triad’

MANILA, Philippines — Two international syndicates are behind the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country, President Duterte said yesterday, as he called on the United States to work closely with the Philippines to address the problem.

Duterte said the Philippines now serves as a transshipment point of narcotics to the US because of the Bamboo Triad, a criminal group based in Taiwan and 14K based in Hongkong.  

“I said we are in trouble. This is the first time I would reveal it because we’re talking about the Constitution and the interest of our country and of course the Bill of Rights and due process,” the President said during the 56th anniversary of the Philippine Constitution Association in Manila. 

However, China and Taiwan yesterday separately denied being the source of illegal drugs entering the Philippines, pointing out the efforts being taken to curb the transnational problem.

“The Philippines today is a client state of the Bamboo Triad. They have taken over the operations of, sad to say, the Chinese but I do not mean the country and people in a sense that most of them are really into this kind of business,” he added. –  With Christina Mendez, Pia Lee-Brago, Perseus Echeminada, Paolo Romero