PHILIPPINE Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Moro Virgilio M. Lazo (Ret. PMGEN) should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the arrest of Jason Andres Dumlao in the town of Solsona, Ilocos Norte, during an alleged buy-bust operation.

The arrest of Dumlao by members of PDEA Ilocos Norte ignited outrage among netizens after a video surfaced showing parts of his arrest, where he allegedly yielded at least one gram of shabu and the buy-bust money worth Php 9,000.

In the video, which has since gone viral, Dumlao is seen on the ground while a PDEA agent who pounced on him read him his rights.

Beside them is another PDEA operative who took from his own pocket what appears to be a small plastic sachet. The sachet was later declared as the one found in Dumlao’s bag raising suspicions that the alleged shabu and the Php 9,000 buy bust money were “planted” by the PDEA agents.

Planting of evidence is a heinous offense under Republic Act 9165 (RA 9165) or the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002” as amended and is punisheable with life imprisonment.

On its Facebook page, PDEA Region 1, led by Director Joel Plaza, claimed that Dumlao is the “top 3 regional target personality” in the entire Ilocos Region.

This claim comes despite the fact that Dumlao had no prior criminal record and has never been arrested for any drug offenses. It is immediately apparent that he is impoverished and not a top-tier narco-trafficker.

In the video, Dumlao, wearing worn-out clothes and slippers, can be heard begging for mercy from the PDEA agents. He vehemently denied any involvement in drug trafficking and asked the arresting agents to spare him because his daughter was in the ICU at the Batac General Hospital due to a congenital disease that exposed parts of her brain.

He denied possessing the shabu and the alleged buy-bust money, pointing out that he went to work that day because he was totally broke and needed to borrow money from his boss to pay for his daughter’s hospital bill. He told the PDEA agents he only worked as a charcoal maker.

“Please don’t do this to me, sir. My daughter needs me. I have nothing to do with what you are accusing me of,” cried Dumlao in Ilocano, in a desperate but futile attempt to appeal for mercy from the PDEA agents.

Dumlao even told the PDEA officers that he is ready and willing to undergo a drug test just to prove his innocence.

The video immediately drew an uproar among millions of Filipino netizens as they expressed disappointment over why PDEA targeted a poor man in an obvious put-up job to enhance their performance.

This incident should already prompt Dir. Gen. Lazo to suspend and file criminal and administrative charges against the entire PDEA unit in Ilocos Norte and the regional chief for negligence.

He should not wait for this incident to attract the attention of Congress, which might end his career in a very embarrassing manner.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Gil Bugaoisan