Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 22) — The House Committee on Dangerous Drugs is set to investigate the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s (PDEA) alleged practice of giving 30 percent of confiscated illegal drugs to informants as “payment” for successful apprehensions.
The panel approved the motion to hold a motu proprio probe during its hearing Tuesday after PDEA Director General Virgilio Moro Lazo revealed the suspicious offer he received from some of the agency’s law enforcement assets.
He said he learned about the practice of giving 30 percent of seized illegal drugs to informants after he assumed his post last November.
“There were agents offering to give us. Ang term, bibigyan kami ng trabaho [They said they will give us a job]. So, I personally sat down with some of them. Eh ang sistema [How it would go is] I don’t have to spend anything. They will do all the work but they are asking 30 percent of the actual seizures as their payment,” Lazo told lawmakers.
The PDEA chief said he refused the assets’ offer to receive a portion of the seized illegal drugs as payment. He said informants should receive monetary compensation in accordance with PDEA’s rewards system.
“I do not allow the seizure or payment of drugs as their payment for their efforts,” he added.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the committee chairman, said Lazo’s revelation could help explain how illegal drugs easily make their way back to the streets after a major law enforcement operation.
He said it was also noteworthy that there are assets who give “jobs” or tips for PDEA to pursue.
“Ito, napaka-serious na [This is a very serious] allegation,” Barbers said.
“Kasi nga kaya hindi matapos-tapos ‘yung recycling [The reason why the recycling of drugs won’t end], it’s because the assets who give information to arrest drug lords and sellers are being rewarded not with monetary value, but of items that are seized and apprehended…So, there’s really a need to investigate this said issue,” he added.
