PDEA TRAINS 50 'DRUG COURT WATCHERS'

A total of 50 members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption
(VACC), including its founding chairman, former Navy Capt. Dante Jimenez,
have completed training at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as
'drug court watchers.'

"The PDEA aims to solve problems of unjustified dismissal of drug cases
with this training. And this is expected to help prevent dismissal of drug
cases, especially those involving 'big fish' in the illegal drug trade,"
said Undersecretary Anselmo S. Avenido, Jr., PDEA director-general.

The main cause of the dismissal of drug cases is the non-appearance of
witnesses. The is particularly true in Metro Manila where many drug cases
are pending. With court watchers around, everybody will be alert -the
judge, the prosecutor, and the witnesses, Jimenez said.

Avenido said the PDEA tapped the VACC because of the organization's
experience in monitoring cases involving heinous crimes. The "drug court
watchers" will be in courts during trials to monitor and record the
proceedings. They will submit a progress report to the PDEA.

The whole-day training was heldlast Dec. 16 in Quezon City.

The trainees were drilled on the following subjects: national drug
situation, provisions of Republic Act 9165, also known as the Comprehensive
Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002; Operation; Private Eye; case tracking, and
monitoring format.

Earlier, the PDEA reported that it was able to locate 251 police witnesses
in drug cases. The police officers were found to have been transferred to
different units, preventing them from attending hearings. Through the
efforts of the PDEA, the police officers are now able to attend hearings.