PNP chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar (File photo)
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday said it is reviewing its protocols to ensure that the chain of custody rule is being properly observed in its anti-illegal drug operations.
“Tuwing may mga ganitong pangyayari (Whenever there are incidents like this), we always make an effort to review and reassess our protocols to determine if there were lapses and if there’s a need to recalibrate our guidelines,” PNP chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said in a statement.
This came after the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 64 dismissed the drug case against rapper Loonie (Marlon Peroramas in real life) over the “unjustified deviation” from the chain of custody rule by the arresting officer.
“Hindi dapat balewalain o magkaroon ng shortcut dahil dito po nakasalalay ang success ng bawat operasyon na aming ginagawa at ang PNP din ang tatamaan ng mga pagkakamaling ito sa bandang huli gaya ng nganyari ngayon (It should not be ignored or have a shortcut because it depends on the success of every operation we do and the PNP will also be hit by these mistakes in the end),” he added.
The case stemmed from the arrest of Peroramas, his sister, and three other people in an alleged buy-bust operation in Makati City in September 2019 where police operatives allegedly seized 15 sachets of kush or high-grade marijuana.
Following the dismissal of the drug case, Peroramas said he is considering filing counter-charges against the police.
“He is well within his rights to do so. We will respect his decision and ensure that the respondents face the complaint,” Eleazar said.
In its ruling, the local court pointed out “there was no evidence presented or there was even no attempt to justify the absence of an elected public official or a representative from the Department of Justice during the buy-bust operation.”
“The court has ruled. It is up to the prosecution to appeal the judgment if it sees grounds to appeal the dismissal. What the policemen, in this case, should do is treat this as a learning experience and get the lesson from the rebuke by the judge particularly in terms of strictly following the chain of custody rule in evidence, which is vital to the credibility of any police operation particularly in the prosecution of drug cases.” (PNA)
