(Eagle News) — The Philippine National Police is reviewing its protocols to ensure that the chain of custody rule is being followed in operations.
The PNP issued the statement after the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 64 dismissed the drug case against rapper Loonie, Marlon Peroramas in real life, over the “unjustified deviation” from the chain of custody rule by the arresting officer.
“Tuwing may mga ganitong pangyayari (Every time something like this happens), we always make an effort to review and reassess our protocols to determine if there were lapses and if there’s a need to recalibrate our guidelines,” PNP Chief Guillermo Eleazar said.
According to Eleazar, the policemen in the case should “treat this as a learning experience and get the lesson from the rebuke by the judge particularly in terms of strictly following the chain of custody rule in evidence, which is vital to the credibility of any police operation particularly in the prosecution of drug cases.”
In dismissing the case against Peroramas, the court noted that there was “no evidence presented or there was even no attempt to justify the absence of an elected public official or a representative from the Department of Justice during the buy-bust operation” in Makati in September 2019.
Apart from Peroramas, arrested were his sister and three other people in the operation police operatives said yielded 15 sachets of kush or high-grade marijuana.
Peroramas has said he was considering filing counter-charges against the police, a move welcomed by Eleazar.
“He is well within his rights to do so. We will respect his decision and ensure that the respondents face the complaint,” the PNP Chief said.