PDEA to inaugurate new forensic labs

BAGUIO CITY, Philipines --  Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon  are among the six regions in the country which will have their own forensic laboratories for narcotics detection.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said it will set up the new additional forensic laboratories in different regional offices starting June this year and will be completed before the year ends.

Through the project, said PDEA Director General Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac, all PDEA regional offices around the country will have their own forensic laboratories.

These include PDEA Regional Offices in 4A (CALABARZON) in Calamba, Laguna; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM); and Regional Office 8 in Palo, Leyte. 

Ten forensic laboratories were set up last year.

The PDEA has inaugurated in February the forensic laboratory of PDEA Regional Office 9 (PDEA RO9) in Zamboanga City.

The PDEA RO 4A forensic laboratory to be inaugurated on March 25, 2014 is capable of conducting forensic examinations using Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC).

TLC is a chromatographic technique that is useful in separating organic compounds.  Owing to the simplicity and rapidity of TLC, it is often used to detect, identify and analyze various illegal substances and monitor the progress of organic reactions and to check the purity of dangerous drugs.

Four forensic laboratories in PDEA RO1 in La Union, PDEA RO7 in Cebu City, PDEA RO6 in Iloilo City, and PDEA RO11 in Davao City are capable of conducting qualitative and quantitative examination using Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometry (GCMS).

GCMS is crucial in the conduct of confirmatory drug test to those who are tested positive in screening tests.

Forensic laboratories in PDEA RO4B (MIMAROPA) and PDEA RO8 are capable of conducting drug test using the Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector (GCFID), an instrument that measures the concentration and purity of confiscated dangerous drugs.