PDEA director admits planting evidence on known drug dealers

Written by lsde
Thursday, 29 May 2008 05:02 - Last Updated Thursday, 29 May 2008 05:06
CANDAHUG, PALO, LEYTE - The Undersecretary and Director General of the Philippin
e Drug
Enforcer Agency (PDEA) admitted yesterday that PDEA as the lead agency in the en
forcement
against drug trafficking in the country is sometimes forced to plant evidence in s
ome special
cases on personalities listed down in the drug watchlist.
Dionisio Santiago said in a news conference that although the procedure is not a
llowed under
the law they are sometimes forced to plant evidence like shabu or other parapherna
lia to
ensure that they could hit the subject involved in the drug trade in a manner th
at it would be
safe from being subjected to questions and declared as fake evidence taken from
the suspect.
C
ANDAHUG, PALO, LEYTE - The Undersecretary and Director General of the Philippine
Drug
Enforcer Agency (PDEA) admitted yesterday that PDEA as the lead agency in the en
forcement
against drug trafficking in the country is sometimes forced to plant evidence in s
ome special
cases on personalities listed down in the drug watchlist.
Dionisio Santiago said in a news conference that although the procedure is not a
llowed under
the law they are sometimes forced to plant evidence like shabu or other parapherna
lia to
ensure that they could hit the subject involved in the drug trade in a manner th
at it would be
safe from being subjected to questions and declared as fake evidence taken from
the suspect.
We sometimes do this although this is against the rule of law. Definitely we only
apply this
matter to some cases na ang isang subject ay public knowledge na siya ay nagtutu
lak ng druga
pero hindi nga lang mahuli dahil magaling, so dito na kami papasok. Pero sinisig
uro ng PDEA
operatives na hindi malalaman nila nga kami ay naglagay ng isang planted evidenc
e, we are
doing this because we want to neutralize big personalities engage in drug trade
patuloy na
sumisira sa kinabukasan ng gating kabataan, Santiago told reporters.
Santigo, who led the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing with some known
non-government organizations in the region like Kabalikat Civicom, the local med
ia, Guardian
Bortherhood Incorporated, Bantay Bayan, Access 5, PVACB, CFFI and NARIAG in the
continued commitment of the government to involve the private sector in society
to help in the
drive against illegal drug menace not only in the Eastern Visayas but all over t
he country.
On the other hand, Eastern Visayas PDEA Regional Director lawyer Gil Pabilona re
vealed that
more than 200 drug related cases filed by the PDEA and the PNP have prospered an
d the
accused were convicted. There were 50 cases dismissed by the court which are now
subject for
revalidation by the PDEA to find out why it was dismissed.
Santiago vowed to focus Eastern Visayas as part of their intensified campaign ag
ainst illegal
drugs warning personalities involve in the drug trafficking to stop their illega
l activities or the law
will be after them.
He also confirmed that some known personalities in the illegal drug trade in the
region are now
being monitored by the PDEA.
The PDEA has identified problematic municipalities in the different provinces in
the region like
Catarman, Northern Samar, Catbalogan City, Borongan, Eastern Samar, Naval, Bilir
an and the
two cities of Tacloban and Ormoc in Leyte.
However, Leyte province has the highest numbers of barangays affected by illegal
drugs as
identified by PDEA with 293 barangays.
This was followed by Eastern Samar with 79 affected barangays, Southern Leyte wi
th 49,
Northern Samar 24 and Biliran while Samar has only 18 barangays affected by ille
gal drug
trafficking.
It was also disclosed by Santiago that major source of illegal drugs comes direc
tly from Cebu
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PDEA director admits planting evidence on known drug dealers
Written by lsde
Thursday, 29 May 2008 05:02 - Last Updated Thursday, 29 May 2008 05:06
and Manila where it is being transported to capital towns or cities in the regio
n before it is being
distributed to the different areas which has strong demand of said illegal drugs
.
Under the leadership of Santiago, five of the seven international drug syndicate
s in the country
were finally neutralized within only six months while nine of big drug laborator
ies in the country
found outside Metro Manila were successfully dismantled through the strong suppo
rt and
coordination with China.
In the 1994 survey of PDEA, some 6.8 million Filipinos were found to be drug dep
endent and
increased in 2001 where there are already 10 million Filipinos who are drug depe
ndent.
Santiago admitted that this is the time for the different sector in society to h
elp fight against drug
menace otherwise few years from now this will already be a threat to every Filip
ino. (MIRIAM
GARCIA DESACADA)
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