PDEA: Transparency in handling evidence
MANILA -- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has vowed to tighten its measures in ensuring transparency, safety and security in handling illegal drugs seized during operations.
This came after the Commission on Audit (COA), in its 2018 report on the agency, said PDEA has improved its evidence room by fully implementing all the recommendations of the audit team in the previous year.
PDEA said its laboratory and storage facilities for drug evidence are now housed in a new three-storey building of the PDEA Laboratory Service, considered to be the country’s premier drug forensic center, at the agency’s national headquarters in Quezon City.
The PHP25-million building was inaugurated on June 1, 2018.
PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino said the agency abides by the provisions stated in Section 21 (Custody and Disposition of Confiscated, Seized, and/or Surrendered Dangerous Drugs, Plant Sources of Dangerous Drugs, Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals, Instruments/ Paraphernalia and/
or Laboratory Equipment) of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, as amended by Republic Act No. 10640.
“Apart from the accused, PDEA requires the presence of two of the three compulsory witnesses each time there is physical inventory of confiscated drug and non-drug evidence: an elected public official, a representative from the National Prosecution Service (NPS), or a member of the media,” Aquino said in a statement.
PDEA also strictly adheres to the law by conducting an inventory of seized illegal drugs either at the site of recovery, the nearest police station or office of the apprehending unit as long as the integrity and evidentiary value of the confiscated items are properly preserved. This gives its forensic chemists ample time to complete the examination of drug evidence.
Restriction in the accessibility of the storage facility is one of the controls instilled by PDEA to assure the security of drug evidence and avoid legal implications in the future.
However, a three-man COA audit team was granted access to the new PDEA Evidence Room on May 15, 2018. The entry to the restricted area is PDEA’s way of showing transparency with regard to safekeeping of drug evidence and let COA did its functions.
PDEA is also strictly adhering to the provisions of RA 9165, in particular the conduct of annual physical inventory of evidence in the presence of two personnel each from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).