Officials of the anti-illegal drugs office of Muntinlupa City expressed disappointment at the dismissal of about 85 percent of illegal drugs case and the acquittal of persons involved by the Regional Trial Court Branch 205.
Julie Tarrayo, program director of the city’s Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Office (DAPCO), said that of the 54 cases heard last year by Judge Myrna Lim-Verrano, only eight persons were convicted while 40 were acquitted and four cases were dismissed.
Tarrayo cited "discrepancies" in the handling of cases by the arresting officers of the Station Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force (SAID SOTF) as the main reason for the dismissal of the cases.
He urged the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to study the dismissed cases. But Tarrayo said there is a need to retrain SAID SOTF members in arresting and prosecuting illegal drugs cases. The training, he proposed, should also focus on the preservation of evidence. (Liza P. Cruz)
DAPCO officials said proper custody of evidence such as drugs should be handled by the person who seized it from the suspect. The evidence should not be turned over from one policeman to another until it reaches the crime laboratory for proper disposition.
Tarrayo said dismissal of illegal drugs cases were caused by failure of the arresting officers to handle pieces of evidence properly. There were cases when some suspects were not even informed of their rights by the police officers upon their arrest.
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