PDEA gets lab equipment from US

PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Tuesday it received  laboratory equipment from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (USDEA) that will boost the agency’s capability to accurately examine dangerous drugs.

PDEA Director General Undersecretary Arturo G. Cacdac Jr. said the equipment received were a unit of Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometry (GCMS), and two Chromatograph/Flame Ionization Detector (GCFID).

The items were turned over to the agency by Brian Goldbeck, Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy, Manila, in simple ceremony at the PDEA National Headquarters in Quezon City earlier Tuesday.

“These analytical laboratory equipment will help arresting officers establish a reasonable ground to prove that the arrested persons have the physical signs, symptoms or visible manifestation of being under the influence of dangerous drugs.  A confirmatory test using these laboratory equipment is an accepted method for establishing that drug evidence will be valid in courts of law,” Cacdac explained.

PDEA said that based on Section 38, Article III of Republic Act 9165, or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, “If found to be positive, the results of the screening laboratory examination or test shall be challenged within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the result through a confirmatory test conducted in any accredited analytical laboratory equipment with a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry equipment.”