Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 12) — The creation of “Dangerous Drug Courts” was sought anew on Sunday to speed up the disposition of drug cases as about 300,000 or 72% of these are still pending based on data from the police and other agencies.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers has filed House Bill No. 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.”
In 2013, Parañaque 2nd District Rep. Gus Tambunting filed a similar measure.
Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said data from the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation show that a total of 405,062 drug cases were filed in court from 2000 to 2022.
“Out of this figure, only 28% or 114,610 cases have been resolved or have been handed a decision by the judiciary. This means there are about 300,000 drug cases or approximately 72% have remained pending in courts as we speak,” he added.
Barbers noted that the slow disposition of drug cases may be due to “congested trial courts” which needed to be addressed before it leads to “clogging of court dockets, impairing our already slow-paced justice system in the country.”
The Mindanao lawmaker also pointed out that the absence of drug courts delays the issuance of court orders and other processes in destroying, seizing or confiscating illegal drugs.
In March, the PNP and the PDEA revealed that 8,662 kilograms of shabu and 4,233 kilograms of marijuana were “un-destructed” and still in custody. The agencies explained these could not be destroyed without court orders, as mandated under the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022.
This became a “window of opportunity” for rogue cops to operate by recycling illegal drugs used to plant evidence or sell back on the streets, Barbers said.
