Manila, Aug 23 (IANS): The Philippines has launched a system of forensic laboratories on illegal drugs in all the country's 17 regions, an official said Saturday.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr. said this after the inauguration of a drug-testing and examination facility in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in northern Philippines this week, Xinhua reported.

Since 11 years, PDEA had only one forensic laboratory and it is located at the national headquarters in Quezon City, Metro Manila.

"Now, each PDEA Regional Office has a fully operational laboratory. The agency can now independently conduct analysis on seized dangerous drugs and administer drug tests on arrested suspects throughout the archipelago," he said.

PDEA has highly trained chemists who conduct qualitative examination of illegal drugs that would be used later as evidence in court, he said.

"This hastens the process of filing drug cases in courts as seized suspected illegal drugs can be quickly examined anytime of the day after anti-drug operations," he added.