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PNP bares less than 1pct conviction rate for drugs cases

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Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News

Of 1,000 illegal drug cases filed by the Philippine National Police, only 10 have so far been resolved in court, of which, one led to conviction of the accused, a police official said Wednesday.&quot;The PNP has 0.88 percent conviction rate based on the number of cases filed by the PNP. That’s less than 1 percent,&quot; M/Gen. Benjamin Santos, Jr. told the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs during a briefing.“Nag-file kami ng 1,000, ang na-decide is sampu pa lang, because of justice system, medyo mahaba,” he said.The PNP attributed the low conviction rate largely to the failure to follow the chain of custody of evidence in drugs cases. Santos said the PNP recently trained 16,000 investigators to improve the handling of evidence.&quot;There are several types, ‘yung basis ng dismissal. Ang pinakamalaki po doon ay ‘yung ating sinasabing Sec. 25, which is the handling of evidence, which is very important. The chain of custody of the evidence. Doon tayo nate-technical,” he explained.“On the PNP part, we just trained recently… 16,000 investigators to study the chain of custody,” he said.Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez pushed to increase the budget for personnel training of agencies that operate against illegal drugs.&quot;Conviction rate is very low. A major contributor of that is a tehcnicality on the chain of custody. If by legislation, maybe we can help the police force or other anti-drug agencies to at least increase their budget for training, para mas gumaling ang pag-handle nila ng evidence, pagharap nila sa cases nila,” Gomez said.Committee Chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said he supports the allocation of funds for the procurement of additional body cameras to be worn by operatives during illegal drug operations, in an effort to boost transparency.The PNP has nearly 2,700 body cameras so far, shared by 8,000 active personnel.&quot;Based on our memorandum circular, once the policeman started operation or patrolling, he should turn on his body camera,” Santos said.The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency procured 800 body cameras, while the National Bureau of Investigation is still waiting for the delivery of the units it purchased.NBI operatives in the meantime use alternative mode of recording, like cellphones and cameras.PNP’s data show that the value of illegal drugs seized from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2022 is at P42.8 billion.To prevent stealing of illegal drugs seized by authorities, Gomez suggested to “lace” them with cyanide.&quot;Pwedeng nakukupit, nagbabawas ng konti bago dalhin sa facility… My absurd idea is what if we can file a bill na itong mga evidence na ito, whether marijuana, methamphetamine, ecstasy pills or any form of drugs, why don’t we lace them with cyanide? It’s an absurd idea, but lace them with cyanide. Sigurado, &#x27;pag may gumamit d&#x27;yan, magnakaw d&#x27;yan, mamamatay… Sige, gamitin niyo. It’s crazy, but maybe it can help na hindi galawin ‘yung evidence natin. Kasi yung evidence minsan, madali ma-tamper, depende kung sino ang nagbabantay,” he proposed to the committee.<div>FROM THE ARCHIVES</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UfcWQ87wDdo?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Of 1,000 illegal drug cases filed by the Philippine National Police, only 10 have so far been resolved in court, of which, one led to conviction of the accused, a police official said Wednesday.

PNP bares less than 1pct conviction rate for drugs cases

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PNP bares less than 1pct conviction rate for drugs cases

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 31, 2022 10:53 PM PHT

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