Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers

Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers has raised serious questions on the credibility and trustworthiness of the "PDEA leaks" guy, Jonathan Morales. 

In a statement Wednesday, May 1, Barbers--chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs--described Morales as a "dishonorably dismissed PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) agent" with an alleged "shady past". 

He said Morales is now masquerading as an anti-drug crusader under a group called “Anti-Drug Advocate Laban ng Pamilyang Pilipino Center for Investigative Regulatory Compliance”. They link celebrities and top government officials to the illegal drug trade. 

“Base sa mga ulat, si Morales ay na-dismiss sa police service bago pa sya nag-apply as PDEA agent. Sa pinirmahan nya na Personal Data Sheet sa PDEA, sinabi nya umano na wala, pero meron pala, syang kaso sa PNP bago sya nag-apply sa PDEA,” Barbers said. 

(According to reports, Morales was dismissed from the police service before he applied as a PDEA agent. In the Personal Data Sheet he signed at PDEA, he didn't mention his prior case with the Philippine National Police.) 

“Nuong nakalusot na siya sa PDEA, naakusahan naman siya later ng kanyang mga superiors at kasamahan mismo sa PDEA na umano’y sangkot sa pilipit na pag-aresto at P8-million extortion sa isang suspected Tsinoy drug lord na kinilala na si Mark Tan ng Binondo, Manila,” he added. 

(When he got into the PDEA, he was later accused by his superiors and his own colleagues I  PDEA of having a hand in the forced arrest and in the P8-million extortion of suspected Filipino-Chinese drug lord Mark Tan in Binondo, Manila.) 

Even Morales’ superior at that time, former PDEA chief Arturo Cacdac, despised the former’s dishonesty by claiming in a congressional hearing that “He (Morales) was asked to plant evidence, to produce evidence, in an alleged shabu laboratory in San Fernando, Pampanga.” 

“During the hearing, when I wasn’t around, Morales said that the evidence was planted, but in his affidavit of arrest, he said it was a buy-bust operation,” Cacdac said in  in a TV interview sometime in 2013.  

Morales was officially dismissed from the PDEA in 2013 because of “grave misconduct, dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service". 

Early last month, Morales again surfaced after he reportedly authenticated a misleading PDEA operational documents – Authority to Operate and Pre-Operation Report both dated March 11, 2012 – linking President Bongbong and actress Maricel Soriano to illegal drugs. 

But PDEA, through its chief Virgilio Moro Lazo, debunked Morales’ claim. This aftee PDEA ran a check through its Plans and Operations Reports Management Information System or PORMIS and found that no such operation was logged on said date. 

“A critical feature of PORMIS is that one cannot insert or tamper with recorded operations. All pre-operation documents are serialized and recorded in this database. This ensures the system's integrity and negates any doubt on the data the system contains,” Lazo said. 

“In an age where Artificial Intelligence can generate realistic fake videos, spurious documents and fantastic claims at having 'insider information', the public is cautioned to be more careful in believing such fake news,” he added. 

For his part, Barbers expressed bewilderment as to why Morales was made to appear in a Senate hearing, which was supposed to probe the confiscation of around 1.4 tons or P9.68 billion worth of "shabu" in a police checkpoint in Alitagtag town in Batangas last April 15. 

“I’m surprised, and many of us are wondering, why Morales would appear and be included as resource person in that hearing. Is there something, a drama maybe, that is unfolding on this issue?” he asked.