Manila, Feb. 18 -- Senate hopefuls from the administration slate Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas laid out their plans to combat illegal drugs and crime, emphasizing policy reforms and community engagement at a press conference at the Citadines Bay City in Pasay City on Tuesday.

Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III proposed merging the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) into a single body -- the Presidential Drug Enforcement Authority.

"One of my proposals now is incorporating the Dangerous Drugs Board and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency into one. I've studied this because of (the) 20 years Dangerous Drugs Act, which I principally authored and (which) created the PDEA. Because of th...