Too many drug cases being dismissed – DDB chief

LAOAG CITY – Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Chairman Anselmo Avenido Jr. revealed yesterday that there are too many illegal drug cases being dismissed in the country.

“Clearly, something is wrong somewhere,” said Avenido.

He said that of the 90,020 total drug cases filed as of Oct. 31, 2007, only 15,065 cases have been disposed and of these, only 35.6 percent resulted in conviction.

Avenido expressed disappointment over the dismissal of illegal drug cases during an ongoing Seminar-Workshop for Judges, Prosecutors and Law Enforcers on Drugs Law at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel here.

Avenido said the dismissal of cases has been mainly due to the non-appearance and inconsistencies in the testimonies of witnesses, illegality of the arrest or search, wrong information filed in court and failure to prosecute due to insufficiency or absence of evidence.

Avenido cited as example the four Chinese nationals who were recently acquitted a year after being arrested during a raid on a shabu laboratory in Dingalan, Aurora on Aug. 30, 2006.

In addition, the Court of Appeals in its decision dated May 22, 2007, acquitted and released from detention another seven Chinese earlier sentenced to reclusion perpetua with P5-million fine per person for possessing illegal drugs.

The police raided the Chinese nationals’ house in San Juan, Metro Manila and recovered 800 grams of shabu along with equipment used to produce illegal drugs.

The appellate court decided against the prosecution based on the illegality of the search performed by the law enforcers.

In an effort to address similar drug-related issues, to integrate the overall efforts of the Criminal Justice System especially in the field of prosecution and criminal investigation, and in keeping with RA 9165’s (Dangerous Drugs Act) mandate to conduct continuing seminars and consultations with the judges and prosecutors, the DDB jointly organized the Nov. 21-23 seminar-workshop for judges with the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Philippine Judicial Academy and the Congressional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs.

Aside from gaining updates on RA 9165, the participants to the fifth workshop this year, included 60 judges, 45 fiscals and 25 law enforcers from Regions 1, 2, 3, and the Cordillera Autonomous Region. They will likewise be apprised of the new regulations passed by the DDB.

The law enforcers are from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, National Police Commission, Bureau of Customs and Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force.

The participants will be briefed on the rules in investigating a drug offense, prosecuting and trying a drug case, handling evidence, and other issues and concerns on drug-related cases.