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By Joel D Adriano
Jan 17, 2009
MANILA
While the sums may seem paltry compared to the Philippines frequent multi-billion peso scandals, the current legal imbroglio involving charges that state prosecutors were bribed to junk a drug case against three young men from politically influential families has highlighted two deep-rooted national scourges: corruption and drugs.
More worrying are new indications that the problems have infiltrated the country's already perceived to be compromised judiciary. The scandal was sparked when agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) made public just before the New Year that it had received credible information that Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors accepted bribes worth P50 million (US$1.1 million) from one of the suspects' families.
Richard Brodett and Joseph Tecson were arrested on September 20 in Alabang, an exclusive subdivision in Manila, while apparently selling drugs to undercover PDEA agents. The third suspect, Jorge Joseph, was arrested in Cubao district during a follow-up operation. Agents seized 60 ecstasy tablets, 11 packages of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, including a marijuana grinder and weighing scales, in the hauls.
Brodett is the nephew of a popular local basketball player from the 1970s; Tecson the scion of a politically powerful aristocratic family; Jorge the son of a popular media personality from the 1980s who now owns several clubs and bars in Metro Manila. In the wake of the scandal, the nabbed drug suspects have been dubbed by the local press as the "Alabang boys".
PDEA head Dionisio Santiago said that the three were part of a "cell" of a bigger drug syndicate that supplied narcotics, including ecstasy, to high-end bars and clubs in Manila. "This is a big group and they use the Internet to get drugs from the US," Santiago said at the time of their arrests. However, the case was later dismissed by state prosecutors on December 2, purportedly for lack of probable cause.
Santiago, a former chief of staff of the armed forces, has since repeatedly told reporters that chief state prosecutor Jovencito Zuno and three junior prosecutors were bribed to drop the case. The information, he said, came from one of Brodett's relatives. During a congressional hearing on the case, the informant was later identified as Marites Brodett, the aunt of one of the suspects. The three suspects remain in PDEA detention, pending a review of the case.
The defendants' legal counsel, Felisberto Verano Jr, has described the PDEA actions as "illegal". Either way, the case has raised uncomfortable questions about the highest echelons of the Philippine justice system. Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor has been dragged into the case for allowing Verano to issue the December 2 release order on official DOJ letterhead. Law professor Carlos Medina of Ateneo University described Verano's use of official stationary, which by law should only be used by state prosecutors, as highly irregular.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez described as "unusual" the special interest Blancaflor showed in the case. During the recent congressional hearing into the burgeoning controversy, it was revealed that Verano and Blancaflor are former college fraternity brothers, while another prosecutor was one of Verano's former students.
Last weekend scandal-plagued President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered all DOJ officials and prosecutors involved in the case to take a leave of absence, pending an official investigation into the controversy. On Tuesday, she appointed herself as the country's new anti-drug czar, a newly created position charged with overseeing the government's fight against drug trafficking.
'High' percentage
The controversy has also cast a harsh light on the country's spiraling drug problem. A United Nations report in 2007 estimated that 6.7% of the Philippine population suffers from narcotics addiction, the top such percentage in Asia. According to Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the government's Dangerous Drugs Board, there are currently 6.7 million regular drug users who spend an estimated P160 million per day on drugs.
Politicians from known trafficking areas, including Quezon congressman Danilo Suarez, contend that the central government has understated the problem and that drug users are spending as much as P350 billion annually to feed their habits. That, he notes, is equal to 20% of the country's annual official budget. Philippine National Police reported last year that illegal drugs entering the country originate mostly from Myanmar and Cambodia while distribution is dominated by Chinese and Taiwanese drug cartels.
The Arroyo administration has boasted record drug hauls, with many publicized sting operations targeting drug laboratories. The police, meanwhile, claim to have eradicated six major drug syndicates in recent years. The largest major seizure occurred last May, when some P15 billion worth of high-grade methamphetamine hydrochloride was seized at Subic Bay Freeport, a former US naval base that has been transformed into a major regional trading hub.
Various proposals have been tabled to more effectively tackle the drug menace, including the establishment of special courts to expedite the handling of drug-related cases and mandatory or random drug testing for students, teachers and politicians. More severely, lawmakers have urged Arroyo to re-impose the death penalty - which was abolished in 2006 - for drug traffickers.
While law enforcement officials believe they are making headway in their fight against drugs, the judiciary is another matter. PDEA records show that of the 12,381 drug cases filed by police last year, only 35 resulted in convictions. PDEA head Sotto said acquittals and dismissals were often the result of the "nonappearance of prosecution witnesses, insufficiency of evidence, irregularity or illegality of arrest, seize and seizure, and inconsistencies in testimony".
Those low conviction rates have dealt yet another blow to the justice system's credibility, which many analysts contend has never recovered from decades of political interference under former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The lack, or perceived lack, of a well-functioning and impartial judiciary has, among other things, hurt the Philippines' image as a safe destination for foreign investment.
The recent controversy has reinforced among Filipinos the nagging perception of double standards, where the rich and powerful are able to buy their way out of legal trouble while the poor are frequently the victim of slow or even rigged proceedings. A national perception survey conducted by the Social Weather Service polling agency in 2006, and released last year, showed that 70% of recent litigants and 68% of lawyers believed judges could be bribed.
The survey also showed a strong perception that the wealthy and well-connected were able to purchase justice, while 70% of respondents saw clogged court dockets as an opportunity for corruption - as wealthy litigants are believed to be able pay courts to achieve speedy and favorable resolutions.
The World Bank says that corruption, including in the judiciary, is a "systemic" problem that has bled the Philippine government of more than P1 trillion over the last 25 years. Global corruption watchdog Transparency International last year placed the Philippines in the same embarrassing league as the Congo, Sudan and Zimbabwe in its corruption perception index, based in part on low ratings for judicial independence.
In terms of narcotics suppression, the police and other law enforcement agencies are also culpable. Santiago, who formerly headed the Bureau of Corrections, said that many police officials are in fact hindering the anti-drugs campaign and some are even involved in dealing illegal drugs in prisons.
Low prosecution rates, meanwhile, are compounded by poor investigation techniques and capabilities, including the frequent mishandling of evidence, Santiago says. It's unclear to some, however, whether police intentionally mishandle cases to protect the rich and powerful who are implicated in narcotics trafficking.
Armed Forces Intelligence Service Brigadier General Victor Corpus said in a recent press briefing that many politicians are involved in the drug trade and have used those ill-gotten gains to catapult themselves into public office. Santiago, meanwhile, has carped about charges being dropped against several high profile drug suspects apprehended by the PDEA.
That was plain to see in 2001, when Ronnie Mitra, mayor of Panukulan in Quezon City, was apprehended by police delivering 500 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride to Manila while riding in a government ambulance. Although he and his driver were six years later convicted to life in prison, many others have eluded justice.
With the national spotlight now on the Alabang boys, the mix of drugs, politics and the judiciary has clearly reached emergency proportions.
Joel D Adriano is an independent consultant and award-winning freelance journalist. He was a sub-editor for the business section of The Manila Times and writes for Asean BizTimes, Safe Democracy and People's Tonight.
link
Jan 17, 2009
MANILA
While the sums may seem paltry compared to the Philippines frequent multi-billion peso scandals, the current legal imbroglio involving charges that state prosecutors were bribed to junk a drug case against three young men from politically influential families has highlighted two deep-rooted national scourges: corruption and drugs.
More worrying are new indications that the problems have infiltrated the country's already perceived to be compromised judiciary. The scandal was sparked when agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) made public just before the New Year that it had received credible information that Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors accepted bribes worth P50 million (US$1.1 million) from one of the suspects' families.
Richard Brodett and Joseph Tecson were arrested on September 20 in Alabang, an exclusive subdivision in Manila, while apparently selling drugs to undercover PDEA agents. The third suspect, Jorge Joseph, was arrested in Cubao district during a follow-up operation. Agents seized 60 ecstasy tablets, 11 packages of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, including a marijuana grinder and weighing scales, in the hauls.
Brodett is the nephew of a popular local basketball player from the 1970s; Tecson the scion of a politically powerful aristocratic family; Jorge the son of a popular media personality from the 1980s who now owns several clubs and bars in Metro Manila. In the wake of the scandal, the nabbed drug suspects have been dubbed by the local press as the "Alabang boys".
PDEA head Dionisio Santiago said that the three were part of a "cell" of a bigger drug syndicate that supplied narcotics, including ecstasy, to high-end bars and clubs in Manila. "This is a big group and they use the Internet to get drugs from the US," Santiago said at the time of their arrests. However, the case was later dismissed by state prosecutors on December 2, purportedly for lack of probable cause.
Santiago, a former chief of staff of the armed forces, has since repeatedly told reporters that chief state prosecutor Jovencito Zuno and three junior prosecutors were bribed to drop the case. The information, he said, came from one of Brodett's relatives. During a congressional hearing on the case, the informant was later identified as Marites Brodett, the aunt of one of the suspects. The three suspects remain in PDEA detention, pending a review of the case.
The defendants' legal counsel, Felisberto Verano Jr, has described the PDEA actions as "illegal". Either way, the case has raised uncomfortable questions about the highest echelons of the Philippine justice system. Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor has been dragged into the case for allowing Verano to issue the December 2 release order on official DOJ letterhead. Law professor Carlos Medina of Ateneo University described Verano's use of official stationary, which by law should only be used by state prosecutors, as highly irregular.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez described as "unusual" the special interest Blancaflor showed in the case. During the recent congressional hearing into the burgeoning controversy, it was revealed that Verano and Blancaflor are former college fraternity brothers, while another prosecutor was one of Verano's former students.
Last weekend scandal-plagued President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered all DOJ officials and prosecutors involved in the case to take a leave of absence, pending an official investigation into the controversy. On Tuesday, she appointed herself as the country's new anti-drug czar, a newly created position charged with overseeing the government's fight against drug trafficking.
'High' percentage
The controversy has also cast a harsh light on the country's spiraling drug problem. A United Nations report in 2007 estimated that 6.7% of the Philippine population suffers from narcotics addiction, the top such percentage in Asia. According to Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the government's Dangerous Drugs Board, there are currently 6.7 million regular drug users who spend an estimated P160 million per day on drugs.
Politicians from known trafficking areas, including Quezon congressman Danilo Suarez, contend that the central government has understated the problem and that drug users are spending as much as P350 billion annually to feed their habits. That, he notes, is equal to 20% of the country's annual official budget. Philippine National Police reported last year that illegal drugs entering the country originate mostly from Myanmar and Cambodia while distribution is dominated by Chinese and Taiwanese drug cartels.
The Arroyo administration has boasted record drug hauls, with many publicized sting operations targeting drug laboratories. The police, meanwhile, claim to have eradicated six major drug syndicates in recent years. The largest major seizure occurred last May, when some P15 billion worth of high-grade methamphetamine hydrochloride was seized at Subic Bay Freeport, a former US naval base that has been transformed into a major regional trading hub.
Various proposals have been tabled to more effectively tackle the drug menace, including the establishment of special courts to expedite the handling of drug-related cases and mandatory or random drug testing for students, teachers and politicians. More severely, lawmakers have urged Arroyo to re-impose the death penalty - which was abolished in 2006 - for drug traffickers.
While law enforcement officials believe they are making headway in their fight against drugs, the judiciary is another matter. PDEA records show that of the 12,381 drug cases filed by police last year, only 35 resulted in convictions. PDEA head Sotto said acquittals and dismissals were often the result of the "nonappearance of prosecution witnesses, insufficiency of evidence, irregularity or illegality of arrest, seize and seizure, and inconsistencies in testimony".
Those low conviction rates have dealt yet another blow to the justice system's credibility, which many analysts contend has never recovered from decades of political interference under former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The lack, or perceived lack, of a well-functioning and impartial judiciary has, among other things, hurt the Philippines' image as a safe destination for foreign investment.
The recent controversy has reinforced among Filipinos the nagging perception of double standards, where the rich and powerful are able to buy their way out of legal trouble while the poor are frequently the victim of slow or even rigged proceedings. A national perception survey conducted by the Social Weather Service polling agency in 2006, and released last year, showed that 70% of recent litigants and 68% of lawyers believed judges could be bribed.
The survey also showed a strong perception that the wealthy and well-connected were able to purchase justice, while 70% of respondents saw clogged court dockets as an opportunity for corruption - as wealthy litigants are believed to be able pay courts to achieve speedy and favorable resolutions.
The World Bank says that corruption, including in the judiciary, is a "systemic" problem that has bled the Philippine government of more than P1 trillion over the last 25 years. Global corruption watchdog Transparency International last year placed the Philippines in the same embarrassing league as the Congo, Sudan and Zimbabwe in its corruption perception index, based in part on low ratings for judicial independence.
In terms of narcotics suppression, the police and other law enforcement agencies are also culpable. Santiago, who formerly headed the Bureau of Corrections, said that many police officials are in fact hindering the anti-drugs campaign and some are even involved in dealing illegal drugs in prisons.
Low prosecution rates, meanwhile, are compounded by poor investigation techniques and capabilities, including the frequent mishandling of evidence, Santiago says. It's unclear to some, however, whether police intentionally mishandle cases to protect the rich and powerful who are implicated in narcotics trafficking.
Armed Forces Intelligence Service Brigadier General Victor Corpus said in a recent press briefing that many politicians are involved in the drug trade and have used those ill-gotten gains to catapult themselves into public office. Santiago, meanwhile, has carped about charges being dropped against several high profile drug suspects apprehended by the PDEA.
That was plain to see in 2001, when Ronnie Mitra, mayor of Panukulan in Quezon City, was apprehended by police delivering 500 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride to Manila while riding in a government ambulance. Although he and his driver were six years later convicted to life in prison, many others have eluded justice.
With the national spotlight now on the Alabang boys, the mix of drugs, politics and the judiciary has clearly reached emergency proportions.
Joel D Adriano is an independent consultant and award-winning freelance journalist. He was a sub-editor for the business section of The Manila Times and writes for Asean BizTimes, Safe Democracy and People's Tonight.
link
