Manila, June 24 -- House Speaker and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) President Faustino "Bojie" Dy III on Wednesday proposed expanding the mandate of the AIPA Advisory Council on Dangerous Drugs (AIPACODD) to cover a broader range of crimes linked to the illicit drug trade, saying criminal networks have become increasingly interconnected and transnational.

Delivering the keynote address at the 9th Meeting of AIPACODD in Manila, Dy said the nature of the threat confronting ASEAN has changed significantly since the body's origins as the AIPA Fact-Finding Committee to Combat the Drug Menace (AIFOCOM).

"Since its beginnings as the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Fact-Finding Committee to Combat the Drug...