Special court eyed for 300,000 Philippines drug cases

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the House of Representatives has filed a bill aimed at putting up a “Dangerous Drugs Court” that will speed up the disposition of at least 300,000 drug cases undergoing trial across the country.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, underscored the need for such special courts in all cities and provinces to expedite the disposition of thousands of pending drug cases.

Data provided by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency showed there were 405,062 drug cases filed in court from 2000 to 2022, and they include those filed by PDEA, Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation.

“Out of this figure, only 28 percent or 114,610 cases have been resolved or have been handed decision by the judiciary. This means there are about 300,000 drug cases or approximately 72 percent have remained pending in courts as we speak,” Barbers said.

The delay in the resolution of drug cases clearly indicates that the country’s congested trial courts cannot keep up with such a problem and, if not properly addressed, “would only lead to more clogging of court dockets, impairing our already slow-paced justice system in the country.”

Barbers authored House Bill 9446 or An Act Promoting the Speedy Disposition of Drug Cases by Creating a Special Court to be Known as “Dangerous Drugs Court” in Every City and Province Nationwide.

The senior administration lawmaker from Mindanao pointed out that the absence of drug courts also causes the delay in the issuance of court orders and other processes in connection with the destruction of seized or confiscated drugs.

Barbers said they learned this during a Dangerous Drugs panel hearing last March when it was revealed that the PDEA and PNP still have in their respective custody a total of “un-destructed” 8,662 kilograms of shabu and 4,233 kilograms of marijuana.

When asked why they are still in possession of such a huge volume of seized illegal drugs, PDEA and PNP reasoned that its immediate destruction, as mandated under the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2202 (RA 9165), could not be done because of the difficulty in obtaining court orders to carry it out.

“This has opened windows of opportunity for rogues in uniform, popularly known as ‘ninja cops,’ to operate by recycling illegal drugs for the purpose of planting evidence, or worse, selling it back on the streets,” Barbers said.