UNDERSECRETARY Paul Oaminal of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) said he subscribes to the prediction of Senator Vicente Sotto that 70 to 80 percent of drug cases will be dismissed unless the provision is amended the soonest.
“Though the DDB commends the pillars of justice in Western Visayas for the 477 drug cases won in favor of the government of the 1,307 cases resolved as of December 31, 2009, a quite number of cases has been acquitted and dismissed,” stressed Oaminal.
Statistics show that in the region, 223 cases were acquitted, 393 dismissed and another 214 provisionally dismissed, Oaminal pointed out.
The common ground for the acquittal was the failure of the arresting officers to observe with Section 21 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, said Oaminal.
“The provision of the law is the requirement on the conduct of physical inventory and photograph in all anti drug operations. In fact the national percentage on acquittals due to non compliance of the law which is 7.9 percent is higher than the percentage on conviction which is 7.2,” he opined.
Sotto, during his chairmanship, has been installing administrative remedies on the legal requirement such as the issuance of a Department of Justice circular outlining the guidelines on the correct interpretation of the law, said Oaminal.
DDB has also facilitated the issuance of a memorandum by the Philippine National Police requiring police officers to submit an affidavit justifying failure to comply with the law as part of the complaint, Oaminal said.
Seminar workshop for judges, prosecutors and law enforcers in every region in coordination with the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court was also conducted.
However, Oaminal believed that what they are doing is not curing the problem.