RENEGING ON REWARD TO DRUG INFORMANTS

A severe rift has sprung between the country's top two antidrug agencies.
It's about money, and it could drag the velocity of government's drive
against big drug lords.

At the core of the rift is the payment of reward to informants of the PNP
Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operating Task Force. Led by Deputy Dir. Gen.
Edgardo Aglipay, the PNP's No. 2 man, the AIDSOTF had busted six syndicates
in the past year. Twenty-two shabu factories and warehouses were raided and
padlocked. Over P21 billion worth of raw ingredients and ready-to-sell shabu
were confiscated and vaporized. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency took
much of the credit for it. But that's alright. After all, it is by law the
implementing arm of the Dangerous Drugs Board; the AIDSOTF, by its very
name, is a mere task force pitched in by the National Police to the effort.
What AIDSOTF does mind is that PDEA has held up release of more than P35
million in rewards to tipsters who gave A-1 info on the target gangs and
locations.

The rift has dragged since Nov., to be sure. That was when PDEA's rewards
committee asked to interview four tipsters responsible for big hits in
Horseshoe Village, Quezon City; Tanza, Cavite; Barangay 70, Pasay; and
Marina Bay Homes, Paranaque. AIDSOTF handlers understood why, and contacted
each one, codenamed "Big Brother", "Jimboy", "Magdangal" and "AB". Problem
was, the tipsters refused to be grilled. It wasn't part of the deal. The
procedure, as contained in leaflets distributed by PDEA and AIDSOTF in
barangay halls, was for them to simply write the tip and affix their
thumbmarks on confidential forms, memorize their case numbers, and await
results through news reports. At no time were they to be forced to reveal
their true identities. PDEA and AIDSOTF were to protect them from exposure.
The four busts were among the biggest in police history.

Red-faced, the AIDSOTF handlers assured the tipsters of payment and pleaded
with PDEA in their behalf. Crime detection and prevention depend heavily on
Humin (human intelligence), the corps of informants whom the police
naturally must nurture. PDEA reward evaluators stood their ground, saying
they were only following government audit rules on verification prior to
fund releases. Word soon spread around that PDEA was not true to its word
about much-ballyhooed rewards under Operation Private Eye. Worse, that
AIDSOTF not only was treating tipsters shabbily, but also possibly
concocting them.

Then-Sen. Robert Barbers, co-author of the Dangerous Drugs Law of 2002 that
created PDEA, launched an inquiry. Hearings showed that the informants were
right in their interpretation of the rules. They could be just anybody who
knows anything about drug manufacture and distribution, including syndicate
insiders. Their task was to clearly and legibly fill out an information
sheet, and fax, post or e-mail it to PDEA, which would then issue a case
number and reward-claim stub. The reward, depending on the volume of drugs
confiscated or recovered, was enticing:

- - for shabu (methampethamine hydrochloride), cocaine or heroin, minimum of
P1,000 for less than 200 grams, all the way to P1.395 million for 200 kilos,
plus P1,500 for every excess kilo;

- - for ephedrine, an ingredient, 80 percent of the reward for shabu;

- - for Ecstasy, P100 per tablet for the first 13 to 266 tablets, all the way
to P1.144 million for 133,334 tablets, plus P2,500 for every 1,334 tablets
in excess;

- - for marijuana, hashish or seeds, two percent of the value, up to a maximum
of P500,000;

- - for factories and warehouses, from P500,000 to P1.5 million; and

- - additional 20 percent of the reward if pushers or traffickers are arrested
in the raid.

PDEA and AIDSOTF officers confronted each other about the rules. PDEA
evaluators said the post-operations reports never mentioned tipsters in the
four raids. AIDSOTF handlers, admitting lapses in details, rebutted that
PDEA knew all along about the tipped gangs and locations, as shown by the
numbered claim stubs it issued. PDEA wondered why the tipsters could trust
the private lawyer who usually handles AIDSOTF legal tussles, but not the
evaluators. AIDSOTF countered that PDEA changes its internal evaluation
rules everytime it changes members of the rewards committee, every three
months or so. PDEA computations for three of the drug busts - in Cavite,
Quezon City and Paranaque - amounted to only P2.9 million; AIDSOTF's
addition, going by PDEA handouts, reached P14.08 million.

The national election campaign overtook the Senate inquiry. Barbers ran for
reelection but lost. The hearings produced no result, except more wranglings
between the two crack units.

AIDSOTF, which smashed another shabu laboratory in Caloocan last week,
laments that it has lost face with reliable informants. Worse, that
potential tipsters - out only for quick cash - now turn to rogue cops for
hulidap (fake arrest and extortion). That way, according to AIDSOTF, they
get easy but dirty money from policemen with no authority, experience or
specialized training to go after drug syndicates. The cops simply rough up
the suspects to cough out grease money in exchange for release.

PDEA can only shrug. It is the sole agency tasked by law to oversee
operations against gangs, custody and destruction of confiscated drugs,
rehabilitation of addicts, and rewards for informants. The Dangerous Drugs
Act of 2002 is so harsh that it prescribes death for traffickers - and for
anti-drug overseers who mess up the job. PDEA reward evaluators won't just
take the AIDSOTF informant handers' word for it. They don't want to fry in
the death chamber for four measly tipsters.

And so hangs the campaign against the drug scourge.