PNP: Police morale low over arrest of drug lord in cahoots with jail guard

The recent arrest of a convicted drug lord and his security escort—a jail guard—over an illegal drug transaction has affected the morale of the anti-illegal drugs unit of the Philippine National Police.

The PNP anti-illegal drugs special operations special task force (AIDSOTF) on Tuesday denounced the connivance of high-profile drug offenders with jail guards, as seen in the arrest of Ruben Tiu in a National Bureau of Investigation buy-bust operation outside Sablayan penal colony in Occidental Mindoro.

High-quality “shabu.” NINO JESUS ORBETA/PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

“Inatasan ang pulis na manghuli ng drug lords, i-convict, tapos sa kulungan tuloy-tuloy pala negosyo (The police are tasked to capture the drug lords, convict them, and then we find out it’s business as usual inside the prison),” Chief Insp. Roque Merdegia Jr., AIDSOTF spokesperson, said in an interview on Tuesday.

“Nakakadismaya sa part ng operatives, nakaka-low morale (It’s disheartening on the part of the operatives; it causes low morale),” Merdegia said.

Tiu was arrested by members of the special operations division of then PNP’s narcotics group in 1999. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2004.

But on April 17, Tiu, along with four jail guards, was able to go out of prison to sell P1 million worth of “shabu” to two women, who were NBI undercover agents.

READ: Jailed drug lord caught selling ‘shabu’ publicly with guards’ help

Merdegia said the government should have a tighter control over jail officials to end the rampant drug smuggling in the prisons.

“Their (prison guards) mental aptitude and moral fiber should be evaluated … If the government is strict on anti-illegal drugs operatives, it should also be strict on jail guards because (drug) syndicates have a big financial capability to bribe them,” he said.

Merdegia believes that underground drug deals within penitentiaries persist mainly because most prisoners, especially drug lords, are able to sneak in mobile phones and other communication devices inside their cells.

To address this, he proposed that a penitentiary should be established solely for drug lords, where there are signal jammers installed and jail guards are reshuffled regularly to avoid familiarization.

Merdegia said he was in favor of the call of Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto to revive the death penalty in the country—but only for drug offenders.

“Ako personally, kung pwedeng ibalik, sa (drug-related cases) lang para matigil na (I’d like to, personally, if it could be brought back, for drug-related cases only so it could be stopped),” he said.

“Dapat magkaroon ng ganitong batas—kamay na bakal—para sa mga drug lords (This should be a law—hand of steel—for the drug lords).” RC