President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to sign a...

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to sign a tough anti-drug law that would make the possession of a mere 10 grams (0.36 ounces) of heroin or cocaine punishable by death, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said.
The amendments to the dangerous drugs act was passed by Congress the former week. Members of the bicameral conference committee that deliberated the proposed Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 signed the other night the final committee report of the proposed measure, which will reportedly contain the harshest anti-drug law in Asia.
Possession of at least 200 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or ice, and 40 grams of cocaine or heroin is already punishable by death under the "heinous crimes" act passed in 1994. More than a thousand convicts now live on death row in the Philippines, with convicted drug dealers including a number of foreigners among them.
The Philippines executed seven convicts by lethal injection in 1999, but the executions were later shelved indefinitely. The amendment would lower the threshold to 50 grams for ice and 10 grams for opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine and the stimulant "Ecstasy,"as well as half a kilogram (1.1 pounds) of marijuana.