Two men were arrested with P22, 440 worth of ‘shabu’ during a buy-bust operation conducted in Barangay Sambag 1, in Cebu City on Saturday, July 9, 2022. | Photo courtesy of Abellana Police Station
CEBU CITY, Philippines — There were no dismissed drug cases filed by the police against drug personalities in Cebu City since January 2022.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, information officer of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that 976 cases on illegal drugs were filed before the city prosecutor and the court from January 2022 to the present.
Macatangay said she had no available data on the rate of conviction of these cases as of this posting.
In 2021, Macatangay said that only 1 to 2 percent of filed drug cases in the city were dismissed.
NEWS UPDATE: No dismissed filed drug cases in Cebu City since January 2022
In Cebu City, Macatangay said that one of the common causes of dismissal of cases is the failure to obtain witnesses such as barangay officials. Some were also because of the investigator’s failure to follow the allowed procedure set for the operation.
Macatangay said this following the directives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to coordinate with their respective local government units to make sure that air-tight cases are filed in every illegal drug operation that police initiate.
The statement of Major General Valeriano de Leon, the director for operations of the PNP, was released on Monday, July 11, which aims to strengthen the government’s efforts against illegal drugs.
READ: PNP urges local chiefs, LGUs to ensure drug-related cases are filed
Macatangay clarified that the city government and the police have healthy coordination with each other for their efforts against illegal drugs.
“Kailangang involved gyud ang atoang komunidad through our LGUs and most particularly, atoang barangay through the barangay officials,” Macatangay said.
For the part of the CCPO, Macatangay said that they regularly conduct case reviews on dismissed drug cases and study why these were dismissed. If they were to find that there is the negligence of the concerned investigator in following the procedure, the police investigators will be subject to precharged proceedings.
So far, in Cebu City, they have no existing cases against their personnel.
/bmjo