PDEA, DOJ discord making bribery possible, Sotto says
SOPHIA DEDACE, GMANews.TV
01/06/2009 | 09:43 AM
(Updated 10:20 a.m.) MANILA, Philippines – The lack of coordination between the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Justice Departmant (DOJ) opens the two agencies’ operations to the possibility of bribery, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chairman Vicente “Tito" Sotto III said Tuesday.
In an interview on dzBB radio, Sotto - who is the author of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the law that created PDEA - said there is a need to revise structures of government agencies handling drug cases to improve coordination between and among them.
Sotto made the statement in the wake of allegations that DOJ prosecutors were allegedly bribed into recommending the dismissal of the drug-related case against the so-called “Alabang Boys."
“Alisin natin yung discordance. Alisin natin yung possibility ng suhulan. Kasi pag may check and balance, di makakapasok yung suhulan. Kung nagkakasisa kasi at puro taong may concern ang nailgayan natin diyan… pati yung suhulan ay matutumbok natin," Sotto said.
(Let us eliminate discordance so we can get rid of the possibility of bribery. Because if there are checks and balances, there will be no such thing as bribery attempts. If the two agencies will cooperate, we will be able to address bribery issues.)
Sotto had earlier pushed for the detailing of prosecutors to the PDEA.
In the radio interview, Sotto said that the only good thing that came out of the “Alabang Boys" bribery controversy is that it opened the floor for discussions addressing the said disharmony between state prosecutors and anti-drug enforcers.
“Sa akin, ang pinakamaganda itong nangyari na ito because this will finally open the door para sa maituwid ang discordance between the DOJ and the enforcement (For me, the only the good thing that came out of this is we will finally open the door to ironing out the discordance between the DOJ and the enforcement body)," Sotto said.
The DDB chair was referring to the House of Representatives committee on Dangerous Drugs hearing slated Tuesday that will tackle PDEA’s allegation that some P50 million changed hands in DOJ’s recommendation of the drug case against Richard Brodett, Jorge Jordana Joseph, and Joseph Tecson.
The three suspects were held during PDEA’s buy-bust and subsequent follow-up operations on Sept. 20 for supposedly peddling high-end drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana.
House inquiry
Sotto is one of the officials invited by the House Dangerous Drugs panel. The committee had likewise invited officials from the DOJ, the PDEA and the National Bureau of Investigation.
Earlier during the day, committee chair Ilocos Rep. Roque Ablan Jr said the hearing will also discuss the status of high-profile drug cases that have been filed before the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service and why certain big drug cases have been dismissed.
On Monday, Ablan said they will conduct the hearing to determine whether any anti-drug law needs to be reviewed and revised. "We have to rally find out the truth about this matter in order to be able to review some laws."
Also present in the hearing was Justice undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, who became controversial after PDEA Special Enforcement Services head Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino named him as the DOJ official who followed up on the status of the drug case against Brodett, Joseph, and Tecson.
But Blancaflor had repeatedly denied committing any wrongdoing, saying there was nothing illegal with what he did and that it was normal for him to follow up on cases “as a public servant."
He was also dragged into the mess when a member of his staff placed the draft release order for Brodett, Joseph, and Tecson on Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez’s table.
Gonzalez on Monday said Blancaflor displayed “highly irregular" and unusual interest" in the drug case, saying that the undersecretary may be held administratively liable if it could be proven that he had tried to intercede in behalf of any of the suspects and transmitting a draft release order for the Justice Secretary’s signature.
But on Tuesday, Blancaflor defended himself and insisted that he was the whistleblower and not a "suspect" in the mess involving the “Alabang Boys."
He said he "passed" on the document to Gonzalez, saying Gonzalez was in a position to do something about it.
"Ayaw ko ng papel na yan sa opisina ko, ibigay ninyo sa office ni Sec. Gonzalez dahil alam niya kung anong gagawin. Napaliwanag ko na yan kay Sec. Gonzalez kahapon, naniwala naman si Sec. Gonzalez (I said I did not want to see that piece of paper in my office. I told my staff to pass the document to the secretary's office because he would know what to do. I explained it to the secretary, and he believed me)," he said. - GMANews.TV
In an interview on dzBB radio, Sotto - who is the author of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the law that created PDEA - said there is a need to revise structures of government agencies handling drug cases to improve coordination between and among them.
Sotto made the statement in the wake of allegations that DOJ prosecutors were allegedly bribed into recommending the dismissal of the drug-related case against the so-called “Alabang Boys."
“Alisin natin yung discordance. Alisin natin yung possibility ng suhulan. Kasi pag may check and balance, di makakapasok yung suhulan. Kung nagkakasisa kasi at puro taong may concern ang nailgayan natin diyan… pati yung suhulan ay matutumbok natin," Sotto said.
(Let us eliminate discordance so we can get rid of the possibility of bribery. Because if there are checks and balances, there will be no such thing as bribery attempts. If the two agencies will cooperate, we will be able to address bribery issues.)
Sotto had earlier pushed for the detailing of prosecutors to the PDEA.
In the radio interview, Sotto said that the only good thing that came out of the “Alabang Boys" bribery controversy is that it opened the floor for discussions addressing the said disharmony between state prosecutors and anti-drug enforcers.
“Sa akin, ang pinakamaganda itong nangyari na ito because this will finally open the door para sa maituwid ang discordance between the DOJ and the enforcement (For me, the only the good thing that came out of this is we will finally open the door to ironing out the discordance between the DOJ and the enforcement body)," Sotto said.
The DDB chair was referring to the House of Representatives committee on Dangerous Drugs hearing slated Tuesday that will tackle PDEA’s allegation that some P50 million changed hands in DOJ’s recommendation of the drug case against Richard Brodett, Jorge Jordana Joseph, and Joseph Tecson.
The three suspects were held during PDEA’s buy-bust and subsequent follow-up operations on Sept. 20 for supposedly peddling high-end drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana.
House inquiry
Sotto is one of the officials invited by the House Dangerous Drugs panel. The committee had likewise invited officials from the DOJ, the PDEA and the National Bureau of Investigation.
Earlier during the day, committee chair Ilocos Rep. Roque Ablan Jr said the hearing will also discuss the status of high-profile drug cases that have been filed before the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service and why certain big drug cases have been dismissed.
On Monday, Ablan said they will conduct the hearing to determine whether any anti-drug law needs to be reviewed and revised. "We have to rally find out the truth about this matter in order to be able to review some laws."
Also present in the hearing was Justice undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, who became controversial after PDEA Special Enforcement Services head Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino named him as the DOJ official who followed up on the status of the drug case against Brodett, Joseph, and Tecson.
But Blancaflor had repeatedly denied committing any wrongdoing, saying there was nothing illegal with what he did and that it was normal for him to follow up on cases “as a public servant."
He was also dragged into the mess when a member of his staff placed the draft release order for Brodett, Joseph, and Tecson on Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez’s table.
Gonzalez on Monday said Blancaflor displayed “highly irregular" and unusual interest" in the drug case, saying that the undersecretary may be held administratively liable if it could be proven that he had tried to intercede in behalf of any of the suspects and transmitting a draft release order for the Justice Secretary’s signature.
But on Tuesday, Blancaflor defended himself and insisted that he was the whistleblower and not a "suspect" in the mess involving the “Alabang Boys."
He said he "passed" on the document to Gonzalez, saying Gonzalez was in a position to do something about it.
"Ayaw ko ng papel na yan sa opisina ko, ibigay ninyo sa office ni Sec. Gonzalez dahil alam niya kung anong gagawin. Napaliwanag ko na yan kay Sec. Gonzalez kahapon, naniwala naman si Sec. Gonzalez (I said I did not want to see that piece of paper in my office. I told my staff to pass the document to the secretary's office because he would know what to do. I explained it to the secretary, and he believed me)," he said. - GMANews.TV
