Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chairman Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate PRIB
MANILA — Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa on Friday urged the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to investigate an alleged scheme of recycling seized narcotics as reward for rogue informants.
PDEA Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo earlier revealed the supposed practice of tipsters seeking a 30-percent cut of the confiscated drugs.
"Prudence dictates that you (Lazo) have to do this. It is incumbent on your part being the director general of PDEA. Once that information reaches you, you have to act on that," Dela Rosa told ANC's "Rundown".
Dela Rosa, who chairs the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said informants could serve as whistleblowers and expose the alleged scheme of "recycling" seized narcotics.
"Huwag mong pabayaan 'yan. Follow-upin mo. Balikan mo 'yang informant na 'yan. Balikan mo talaga para malaman natin ang katotohan. It will cast doubt on you 'pag walang mangyari," he said.
The senator warned that many informants act as double agents.
"Kumikita na bilang miyembro ng sindikato. Pinapatira niya 'yung sindikato na 'yun. At the same time, kumikita siya sa gobyerno na nakahuli ng sindikato," he said.
Dela Rosa also said anti-narcotics agents should not heavily rely on tipsters but instead conduct their operations based on intelligence information.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency operatives stand on guard during the destruction of confiscated illegal drugs through thermal decomposition in Trece Martires, Cavite on March 16, 2023. Around 3.7 tons of drug stockpile worth P19.9 billion seized from various anti-drug operations were destroyed by PDEA. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
The PDEA has insisted that informants only get monetary rewards and not a portion of the seized drugs.
According to Lazo, they may get as much as P2 million.
At the sidelines of the destruction of P19.9-billion worth of illegal drugs in Cavite on Thursday, he said he was trying to contact the informants again to convince them to identify the agents who agreed to the supposed scheme.