DILG Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. Photo from Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — As many as 223,579 drug-related cases are still pending in various courts, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. revealed Thursday.
According to Abalos, the sum was part of the more than 291,000 drug-related cases filed from 2016 to July 15, 2022.
“Ang drug cases ngayon, medyo madami,” he said in a press conference with the Department of Justice (DOJ) at Camp Crame in Quezon City. “This is from 2016 to July 15, 2022. Ang total filed [cases] ay 291,393. Of this, 62,000 have been convicted, 5,753 were dismissed, and we still have 223,579, or about 77 percent, still pending. Dapat mabantayan ito.”
(We have quite a lot of drug cases now. From 2016 to July 15, 2022, a total of 291,393 cases were filed. Of this, 62,000 have been convicted, 5,753 were dismissed, and we still have 223,579, or about 77 percent, still pending. So we really have to monitor this.)
He further said that 61 percent of the pending cases are for drug pushing, 23 percent for drug possession, and six percent for drug use.
READ: Abalos: Drug war to be ‘as intensive as before’
Abalos, however, lamented that many drug-related cases were being dismissed because of legal technicalities.
“Let’s go to the law itself,” he said. “Himayin natin, ano iyong mga technicalities ng batas na dapat tinitingnan natin? Ang masaklap, pinagpaguran ninyo tapos madi-dismiss iyong kaso because of technicalities.”
(Let’s dissect the law itself. What are the technicalities that we should be looking at? It’s disheartening when you work hard for these cases and get dismissed because of technicalities.)
For instance, Abalos cited that under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, physical inventory and photo documentation during drug confiscations must be done in the presence of the accused person’s counsel, representatives from the media professional, the DOJ, and any elected public official.
“If you look at the cases – itong iniimbentaryo, ang daming nadi-dismiss because of lack of witnesses. [So,] if we’re going to wait for the law to be amended, ang tagal pa niyan,” he said.
(If you look at the cases – those under inventory, many are being dismissed because of lack of witnesses. So, it will take a long time if we’re going to wait for the law to be amended.)
The DILG chief also said, “This is just one instance na iyong batas na na-create, masyadong – sabihin na natin – mabigat pero kailangan gawan natin ng paraan. Kailangan maging resourceful tayo rito at ito ang panawagan namin.”
(This is just one instance where the law created was, let’s say, too heavy but still necessary, so we need to make a way. We need to be resourceful, and this is our call.)
Abalos said that to help bridge this gap, he will recommend to the local government units to designate people who can serve as witness-representatives from the DOJ.
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