Saturday, December 09, 2006 Most drug cases lead to conviction
MOST drug cases here lead to conviction, that is, if the suspect is not killed first.
But it doesn't mean that the police cannot improve on their manner of handling anti-illegal drug operations, Public Attorney's Office-Southern Mindanao chief Ridgway Tanjili said.
"It's usually the testimony of the police that is given greater weight. We sometimes pity those who are caught. Aside from this, it seems a lot of law enforcement agencies are competing with each other in arresting drug pushers," Tanjili said.
The drive to crack down on drug pushers, however, can be better if the police improve on their operations, consequently, their testimonies.
Tanjili said that several affidavits of policemen look like ready forms and even the way they crack down on suspects are done in haste.
He added that it is best to conduct test buys first before a buy-bust operation to build up more evidence against the suspect.
But this is not done as a standard procedure and most buy-bust operations are done even without test buys making it more difficult to pin down a suspect for conviction.
Meanwhile, Tanjili said he will soon be losing his public attorney who is handling drug cases as lawyer Jennifer Peñaflor will be transferred as clerk of court of the Regional Trial Court Branch 8.
Tanjili admitted that it would be one of his problems.
"I need to look for another lawyer to handle drug cases in the absence of Peñaflor," he said.
He added that he is losing a total of four lawyers, including Marlon Melodias, who was linked to druglords by City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte. (RMH)
