SEN. Raffy Tulfo yesterday urged the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to establish a system or program that would train its personnel to become experts in drug mule profiling.
During the budget hearing on the proposed 2025 budget of the PDEA, Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo told senators the agency does not have trained personnel to profile drug mules entering the country.
He likewise said that their K9 units lack training in detecting cocaine, opium, and heroin.
Tulfo said his proposal for PDEA agents to undergo the necessary training will prevent the entry of drug mules, especially those transporting cocaine.
“You don’t have that kind of system, so, every day, drug mules can sneak in, especially if they are carrying cocaine because our canines can’t smell cocaine. So, the drug mules carrying cocaine can enter the Philippines in that case,” Tulfo said.
“Have training from other countries on how to profile a drug mule and then train personnel from the Bureau of Immigration, customs, airport police, and others,” he also said, adding that the PDEA should likewise start training its canines how to detect cocaine.
Tulfo also said the PDEA should deploy K9 units to the processing center for general aviation flights so passengers of chartered flights can be subjected to illegal drugs search.
He said there is a high possibility that passengers of chartered flights are using general aviation terminals to transport illegal drugs since they are not subjected to strict inspections before and after flights, unlike ordinary airline passengers.
During last week’s budget hearing on the 2025 budget request of the Department of Transportation, the Manila International Airport Authority said that a processing center for general aviation flights has been set up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 4, or the old domestic airport.
The MIAA said this is where passengers of chartered flights are strictly screened by agents of the Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Quarantine, and PNP Aviation Group.
It said that the processing center was created to prevent the likes of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, or Guo Hua Ping, from leaving the country with ease.
“Kailangan nandoon ang presence ninyo sa processing center for general aviation flights kasi baka diyan magpalusot ng drugs, na baka kasabwat ang Bureau of Customs (You must be present in the processing center for general aviation flights because there might be individuals who smuggle illegal drugs who maybe in cahoots with the Bureau of Customs),” Tulfo said.
During the hearing, Lazo informed senators that he just received fresh information that a local court has granted their agency authority to use cocaine as training aids for its K9 units.
“The court has already approved the release of the training aids for cocaine because normally, sir, it needs a court order for us to use cocaine as a training aid. Kasi siyempre, illegal possession yung K9 na nagti-training ng cocaine na wala naman siyang authority to possess. Violation pa rin yan ng RA 9165 (Because our K9 units can still be held liable for illegal possession [of drugs] if they use cocaine for training without an authority to possess.
That is violation of RA 9165 [Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022),” Lazo said.
Meanwhile, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) yesterday requested the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to give it full access to its “mandatory contribution remittances” from various agencies and fees and fines collected by the agency so it can be used for their programs, activities, and projects.
DDB Undersecretary Earl Saavedra said the DBM has imposed a P77-million ceiling access on its collections even of the agency has surpassed the amount. He said this has been going on for years.
As an example, Saavedra said DDB collected P126,937,103.53 in 2023 and requested around P90 million but was only granted P77 million.
Saavedra said the more than P126.9 million are as follows: P60 million contributed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, P42.25 million from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, P1.289 million from the Metro Manila Turf Club, P22.5 million from its issued licenses, certificates, and exemptions; and P846,500 from fines and penalties.
He said the DDB’s collections from January to August this year is already at P86,696,033.65.
Marciel Dizon, of the DBM, said they are supportive of DDB’s proposal but said the latter did not submit a budget proposal for the increase in allocation for next year.
“Wala po kasing nai-submit na budget proposal si DDB for the increase of the P77 million kaya hindi po natin siya na-increase this coming 2025 budget (The DDB did not submit a budget proposal to increase its special fund for 2025 that’s why we were not able to increase the allocation in the 2025 budget),” Dizon said.
