113 military personnel found using illegal drugs in 2013

A total of 113 military personnel were confirmed positive of illegal drug use in 2013, the military said Monday. 

The Armed Forces of the Philippines targeted 20,000 personnel and officers for random drug testing last year, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said. 

A comparative analysis of the AFP’s anti-drug body showed that personnel from the Air Force, Unified Commands and the Service Support Units have the lowest number of illegal drug users. 

Members from the Army and Marines have the highest number of personnel positive of illegal drug use, the analysis showed. 

There were 70 members from the Army confirmed positive, but Zagala explained that this was also because the Army has 80,000 personnel in its roster. There are 120,000 men and women in the whole armed forces. 

For the General Headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo, there were 13 who tested positive; 12 for the Air Force; and 18 for the Navy. 

“They are undergoing investigation in their respective provost marshal. Rest assured they will be given due process. If they are found guilty they will be discharged,” Zagala said. 

“A tabulation of the drug users also shows a trend that the younger the individual, the greater the susceptibility to drug use is: 5 percent are Staff Sergeant/Petty Officer 2; 12 percent are Sergeant/Petty Officer 3; 26 percent are Corporal/Airman 1st Class/Seaman 1st Class; 51 percent are Private First Class/Airman 2nd Class/Seaman 2nd Class; and 6 percent are Private/Airman/Seaman,” Zagala said. 

With this, the AFP is boosting its anti-drug campaign. It will target recipients of random drug testing by 20 percent this year, he said. 

Zagala also said AFP plans to provide additional training for more personnel this year to enable them to come up with a better and more accurate results in drug testing.

Article Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

Marines, PDEA destroy P8M marijuana plants

Combined military and anti-illegal drug operatives have raided and destroyed a marijuana farm and uprooted some P8-million worth of plants in the town of Maimbung, Sulu province on Friday afternoon, Philippine Navy spokesman Colonel Omar Tonsay said.

Tonsay related that forces from the Philippine Marine Battalion Landing Team 2 (MBLT 2) and the 3rd Marine Brigade (3MBDE) and operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and local police raided a half-hectare marijuana plantation in Barangay Gulangan, Maimbung town on Friday afternoon.

No one was apprehended by the joint PDEA and military operatives during the raid.

The uprooted marijuana plants were brought to the 3MBDE headquarters for safekeeping.

Brigadier General Remigio Valdez, 3MBDE commander, said the raid and successful operations was due to the well-coordinated surveillance and monitoring by the Marines and the PDEA.

Valdez vowed to pursue their campaign and operations against terrorism in his jurisdiction and to work with other agencies for the security and development of Sulu.

The PDEA are determining the identity of the owner of the said marijuana plantation.

Relatedly, a notorious shabu dealer in Sta. Mesa, Manila fell into the hands of authorities after concerned citizens reported his illegal drug activities to the PDEA.

The suspect, identified as Marvic Bansil, alias Niknok, was widely known in his neighborhood as a shabu dealer. 

Bansil reportedly sold shabu in their barangay and in adjacent communities, particularly to his primary clients who occupy a certain condominium building whom he charges a minimum of P2,000 per transaction. Residents are afraid of him because he bragged that he owned a gun, PDEA director general Jose Gutierrez said.

Based on information from a group of concerned citizens, operatives of the PDEA National Capital Region (PDEA-NCR) under Director Pedrito Magsino, conducted a validation operation against Bansil. 

Upon confirmation of Bansil’s illegal drug activities, an undercover PDEA agent transacted with the suspect in his house. Bansil was collared after he handed over a plastic sachet containing shabu to the poseur-buyer on May 29, 2012. 

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Gina Peralta-Elorde | The Daily Tribune | June 3, 2012 | Article Link

387 military personnel undergo random drug tests; all test negative

MANILA, Philippines—Hundreds of officers and employees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ intelligence service have been subjected to random drug tests, a military spokesman said.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said that drug tests were conducted Tuesday on 387 officers, enlisted men and civilian employees, who all tested “negative.”

Burgos added that the drug tests were in compliance with the AFP’s directive dated July 17, 2011, forming the anti-drug Task Force Moses, which has been tasked to specifically eliminate drug use and other related crimes.

An AFP employee who tests positive for drug use would be subject to investigation by the Provost Marshal and could be dismissed from the service if found guilty, Burgos said.

He added, however, that there are also provisions for rehabilitation.

He also said that all military personnel must undergo mandatory drug test before they can be promoted and before they can leave the country to study abroad.

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Frances Mangosing

INQUIRER.net

6:30 pm | Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

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ISAFP to lead probe of drug users within AFP

MANILA, Philippines—The Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) announced it would lead efforts to weed out drug users from the 85,000-strong military.

In a statement Wednesday, Brigadier General Caesar Ordoyo, the ISAFP chief, said he and all the 386 personnel at the ISAFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo were recently subjected to a drug test.

All of them — comprised of officers, enlisted personnel and civilian employees — tested negative for illegal drug use.

Operatives and other field personnel of the AFP’s main spy unit will also be subjected to the drug test.

Ordoyo said they underwent the drug test “as a matter of setting moral ascendancy” since ISAFP has been tapped to investigate colleagues suspected of using illegal drugs.

The Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force have organized their own anti-drug task groups or counter-intelligence units.

ISAFP, meanwhile, will handle the AFP general headquarters, the seven unified commands and the AFP-wide service support units.

Last July, ISAFP Task Force Moses was created to lead the anti-drug counter-intelligence efforts.

Headed by the ISAFP deputy chief, Col. Virgilio Hernandez, Task Force Moses has operational control over the task groups of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

ISAFP Task Group Jacob was also formed as the primary operating arm of Task Force Moses. The task group is headed by ISAFP chief of staff, Col. Melquiades Ordiales.

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By Dona Z. Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer

6:19 pm | Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

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PDEA, BI close ranks vs foreign drug lords in RP

07/19/2008 | 07:32 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Two government law enforcement agencies have closed ranks in going after foreigners engaging in illicit drug trade both here and abroad.

The two agencies, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), have signed an agreement last week for a joint cooperation in the anti-drug campaign.

BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan and PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago inked the agreement.

"With this agreement, we are serving notice to these foreign drug lords that their days are numbered and that it won't be long before the long arm of the law will catch them," Libanan said in a statement.

The BI chief said the agreement would boost the anti-drug campaign. He noted that large volumes of illegal drugs in the country came from abroad and manufactured by foreigners.

Libanan cited some instances where law enforcers have arrested foreigners suspected of being drug chemists in raids on suspected drug dens and drug laboratories.

Under the MOA, BI agreed to assist PDEA in investigating drug cases involving foreigners and in collecting, establishing and maintaining a travel database of suspected foreign drug lords entering and leaving the country. - GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/108029/PDEA-BI-close-ranks-vs-foreign-drug-lords-in-RP