MANILA, Philippines— On top of lifestyle checks, Senator Raffy Tulfo on Tuesday said that personnel of the Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) under the Philippine National Police should undergo periodic drug testing, reshuffling, polygraph tests, and neuropsychiatric tests.
“Hindi lang dapat lifestyle check para mabawasan ‘yung posibilidad na mainvolve sa droga ‘yung mga pulis… Dapat mayroon po yung periodic random drug testing and then dapat po may tinatawag na reshuffle. Hindi po puwedeng tumagal sa duty ang isang anti-drug personnel nang three years, four years. Familiarity breeds contempt,” said Tulfo during the hearing of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.
(Lifestyle checks are insufficient to lessen the possibility of policemen being involved in drugs. There should be periodic random drug testing, and there should be a reshuffle. Anti-drug personnel should not last for three or four years in a certain duty. Familiarity breeds contempt.)
Tulfo said that anti-drug personnel should be reassigned to different duties every two years at least to quash any “friendships” they may develop with those in drug syndicates.
It follows a previous announcement by PDEG Director PBGen. Antonio Olaguera that lifestyle checks and personnel profiling will be conducted every six months as the anti-drug group tries to recover from the pilferage of 42 kilograms of shabu during a massive drug seizure in Manila last year.
The senator also recommended that PDEG personnel undergo polygraph and neuropsychiatric tests every contract renewal.
“Bago siya mabigyan another year [o] i-renew yung contract niya for another year, he has to undergo a polygraph test, para i-check yung kanyang pagkatao— kung siya ba ay gumagawa pa ng mabuti o hindi,” Tuflo said.
(Before they are given another year or their contracts are renewed for another year, they must undergo a polygraph test to check their character— if they do good or not.)
“And lastly, kung puwede i-undergo siya ng neuropsychiatric exam. Kasi baka nagbago na yung psyche niya. Yung kanyang pananaw, yung kanyang ugali— mahuhuli yan sa neuro exam,” concluded the senator.
(And lastly, they should undergo a neuropsychiatric exam if possible. Their psyche may have changed. Their perspective and attitudes can be determined in a neuro exam.)