PDEA men get over P10-M cash reward for exemplary anti-drug operations
By Chito Chavez
Two operating units of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) were rewarded with a total amount of P10,126,589.26 for their exemplary work in nine “meritorious anti-drug operations.’’
In a statement released on Tuesday, Dec. 21, PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva cited his men as their dangerous law enforcement service resulted in the dismantling of a clandestine drug laboratory, confiscation of 206.23 kilos of shabu and 16,668 pieces of ecstasy tablet worth P1.43 billion including the arrest of 20 drug personalities.
Villanueva explained that PDEA Operation: Lawmen is an incentive program for the law enforcers or members of the anti-illegal drug units, teams or task forces including the support units for “the conduct of laudable anti-drug operations.’’
The ceremony was held on Monday, Dec. 20 at the PDEA Headquarters where Villanueva together with the command group and sector representatives personally handed the cash rewards to PDEA Regional Office III and PDEA Regional Office-National Capital Region (NCR).
In the same event, Villanueva noted that 25 civilian PDEA informants also received a total of P15,557,699.60 for providing information that led to the arrest of “high-value targeted drug personalities’’ and confiscation of “voluminous amounts of illegal drugs’’ under the agency’s PDEA Operation: Private Eye’’.
Through their code names, Villanueva identified the PDEA informers as Basko, Boom, Baby, Basilio, Boyet, Close-In, Camalig, Dats, Dream, Datu, Eagle, Ekang, Jojo, Joker, Kamid, Kwala, Kap-Pulong, Madam, Mahal, Mambo, Pogi, Thoks, Ukay, Jay R and Paste.
“Operation Private Eye (OPE)” is PDEA’s long standing citizen-based information collection program designed to encourage the active participation of private citizens to report illegal drug activities in their communities. The OPE is credited to have provided key intelligence in many of PDEA’s high-impact operations (HIOs),’’ Villanueva explained.
In order to observe health protocols and minimize physical crowding during the awarding ceremony, only informants scheduled to receive amounts equal to or larger than P500,000.00 were present during the program; rewards below the half-million mark were turned over to concerned PDEA Regional Offices for awarding to their respective informants. (Chito A. Chavez)