Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered on Monday, June 28, the accounting of all drug cases that were dismissed, especially those which were junked by the prosecutors office or the court over technicalities.
“Having data and information on these dismissed drug cases since the war on drugs started in 2016 would truly help the PNP leadership determine the interventions needed so that the junking by the courts of drug cases filed by the police would be avoided in the future,” said Eleazar.
Eleazar's order appeared to have stemmed from the junking of the case against rapper Loonie due to improper chain of custody of the pieces of evidence used against him and his co-accused in the dru case leveled against them after they were allegedly caught in a buy-bust.
He said that from a review of these dismissed cases, adjustments and improvements would be made on how police anti-illegal drug operations are conducted.
Eleazar said the PNP is aiming to improve the conviction rate, particularly in drug-related cases, noting that a higher conviction rate would reflect the success of the campaign against illegal drugs.
"We have to make sure that what we would file are really strong cases that is why we really have to find out the usual reasons why drug cases are dismissed," said Eleazar.
Since the war on drugs started in July, 2016, more arrests of drug offenders have been recorded. Government data shows that in 200,632 anti-illegal drug operations, a total of 289,622 drug suspects were arrested.
“The conviction of all these arrested drug suspects would prove we are winning the war on drugs and that it has been effectively curbing the further proliferation of illegal drugs in the country,” said Eleazar.
Aside from seeking to raise the conviction rate in drug cases, the PNP also wants to identify police personnel who caused the dismissal by committing irregularities in the conduct of anti-illegal drugs operations and weakening the prosecution’s evidence.
He pointed out that the possibility of some policemen deliberately causing the dismissal of the drug case, being in cahoots with the accused, would also be determined in the review of the dismissed drug cases.