Arrests up, but drug cases drag in court

CEBU CITY -- Cases against illegal drugs in Central Visayas rarely prosper in court despite the police force’s efforts, data from the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas showed Friday.

From 2012 up to October this year, only 4.97 percent or 105 cases resulted in a conviction, out of the 2,111 cases filed by the police.

Among the reasons for the low conviction rate were differences in the interpretation of the law and the rise in the number of arrests, which led to delays and some police officers bungling the cases, like failing to attend court hearings.

Senior Superintendent Conrado Capa, deputy regional director for operations of PRO-Central Visayas, said they are keeping tabs on all the cases, including those that got dismissed, and promised that police officers who mishandle the cases will be dismissed.

“After we intensified our fight against illegal drugs, we set quite a record in our accomplishments and this will go on. This is a war we can’t afford to lose,” he said during Friday's Talakayan Sa Isyung Pulis (TSIP) forum in PRO-Central Visayas.

Based on the records from PRO’s Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division (RIDMD), the special police unit tasked to monitor the cases, at least 36 cases were dismissed or led to acquittals in the past three years. That’s around 1.7 percent.

Senior Inspector Rosefela Santolorin, chief of RIDMD’s monitoring section, said trial is still ongoing in 1,970 cases or 93.32 percent.

Close watch

To improve the conviction rate in cases against illegal drugs, she said they are conducting different seminars for the police, such as the Investigation Officers Basic Course and Criminal Investigation Course.

“We also devised a system where we can monitor cases from the time these are filed, elevated to the court until” a decision is reached, Santolorin said.

During her presentation, she also revealed the police are now investigating some personnel for possible neglect of duty if they deliberately attempted to bungle the case.

In 2012, there were 313 cases filed by police in court. At least 35 of them ended in convictions, 20 got dismissed and trial is ongoing in 258 cases.

One of the major drug cases that led to a conviction was the case of Kenyan national Asha Atieno Oguto, who was arrested for transporting illegal drugs into the country.

She was found guilty last January 2012 by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 27 Judge Toribio Quiwag and ordered to serve life imprisonment and pay a fine of P3 million.

The prosecution proved she owned the two bags containing three kilos of shabu that were found when she arrived in Mactan airport back in September 2011.

41 convictions

In February 2012, the court found 11 out of 12 suspects, including the alleged financier, guilty of making illegal drugs in what police said was a drug laboratory in Umapad, Mandaue City in 2004.

In a 277-page decision, Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 in Mandaue City found guilty drug manufacturer Calvin de Jesus Tan, Joseph Yu, Siew Kin Weng, Liew Kam Song, Lin Li Ku, Bao Xiafu, Wu Tiao Yi, Tao Fei, Liu Bo, Allan Yap Garcia and Joseph Lopez for violating Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

She sentenced them to a life in prison and fined them P10 million each.

According to the RIDMD records, there were 41 cases that achieved conviction; eight were dismissed; and 397 were still being tried in 2013.

From January to October 2014, the police filed 1,352 cases in court, an increase of 303.14 percent, attributed to their intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

At least 29 cases prospered; eight ended in acquittals; and 1,315 are still being heard by the court.

Challenges

Superintendent Marvin Sanchez, chief of PRO-Central Visayas's Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (Raidsotg), said technicalities are among their stumbling blocks.

“There’s a difference between the interpretation and appreciation of the law,” he said, citing section 21 of RA 9165 or the inventory of drugs.

He said there are some judges who would allow the inventory to be conducted in the police office, but others insist it should be done in the area where the operation was held.

Sanchez said the increase in the number of arrested suspects has also contributed to the delay in some hearings.

Aside from police officers, some witnesses and prosecutors also failed to attend the hearings, which serves as another stumbling block for law enforcers, Sanchez said.

From January to November 15 this year, the PRO-Central Visayas has conducted 2,173 operations, arrested 2,720 people and confiscated 9,097.20 grams of shabu. These would have been worth P107,346,960 in sales, based on the estimates set by Dangerous Drug Board. (Sun.Star Cebu)

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