13 PDEA informants get P10.2 million reward

MANILA, Philippines — Thirteen civilian informants of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency received yesterday a total of P10.2 million in cash rewards under the PDEA’s Operation Private Eye program.

PDEA chief Wilkins Villanueva lauded the informants Dream, Bonky, Palanyag, Salonga, Myay, Bakil, Otoh, Datu, Littoko, Nonon, Marie, Kobid-21 and ABS, saying these “fearless, faceless and nameless” individuals have been helping the government in the campaign against illegal drugs.

“Unmindful of the dangers involved, civilian informants go out of their way to report illegal drug activities to the PDEA,” Villanueva said. “This is a strong indication that the agency has the trust and confidence of the public.”

Dream received the highest cash incentive of P4.14 million for information, which led to the confiscation of 162,028.25 grams of shabu during separate anti-narcotics operations in Quezon City, Valenzuela and Bacoor City in Cavite from July to August 2021.

Another instant millionaire is Bonky, who received P1.21 million for his tip, which resulted in the confiscation of 21,898.25 grams of shabu in Pasig City in May last year.

Operation Private Eye is a citizen-based information collection program, which aims to encourage the active participation of private individuals to report drug suspects in the communities.

“It is an incentivized program to embolden the citizenry to come out and report illegal drug activities happening in their neighborhood with guarantees of anonymity, confidentiality and security,” Villanueva said.

He said they are eyeing to increase the budget for the program from P40 million to P60 million per year.