Generals push for P1 M reward for informer

Two police generals pushed yesterday for the payment of the P1 million reward to the civilian informer who led police in the successful raid of a makeshift shabu laboratory in Pasig City last Nov. 7 resulting in the arrest of 11 suspects, eight of them Chinese nationals, and recovery of 20 kilos of shabu.

Metro Manila police chief Director Edgar Aglipay said the government should hand over the reward to the civilian informer to encourage the public to fully cooperate with the police in its relentless anti-drugs campaign.

Director Efren Fernandez of the Narcotics Group (NarcGroup) in Camp Crame said the non-payment of the reward would derail his plan to use the government’s reward system in intensified information gathering against bigtime drug syndicates operating in the country.

Earlier, the National Drug Enforcement and Prevention (NDEP) denied payment of the P1 M reward to the civilian informer because the police operation was not coordinated with them. Under the "private eye" reward system of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), an informer would receive P50,000 for every kilo of shabu seized. The civilian informer in the Pasig City laboratory raid was a former customer of the drug syndicate headed by Cai Hongtai, alias Wah Yah, who managed to elude arrest. The informer was after the reward money when he coordinated with elements of the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (RISOO) to have the shabu laboratory raided and padlocked.

According to Aglipay, he will lobby Interior Secretary Joey Lina for the immediate release of the money to the civilian informer to convince the public of the government’s sincerity in going after illegal drugs. "How can we convince the public of the government’s sincere effort in its anti-drugs campaign if we cannot give our promised reward to our informers because of a mere technicality?" asked Aglipay.

Meanwhile, Fernandez said he’s planning to lobby Congress for an increase in funding of the government’s reward system.

A large reward system, according to Fernandez, would prevent corruption among law enforcers."The system would push law enforcers to work harder not only for the arrest of drug traffickers but also for the recovery of large quantities of shabu and other illegal drugs," said Fernandez. Reports reaching Fernandez showed that a number of law enforcers are in cahoots with or protecting bigtime drug syndicates because of large amounts of money they receive. Others resort to keeping a big amount of recovered shabu and selling them back on the streets. – Non Alquitran