The PNP’s Highway Patrol Group will train drivers of Transport Network Vehicle Services to serve as ‘force multipliers’ to assist in the government’s war on drugs by way of helping prevent the transporting of illegal drugs through courier services.
Thousands of full-time TNVS drivers from Grab Philippines will be selected to undergo training under the PNP, a move to help detect packages with concealed narcotics, which has emerged as a new platform by drug syndicates who use transport services as couriers of prohibited substances.
“Well, I think when it comes to sending contraband through the platform, the criminals are wisening up and they are also trying to use technology,” said Grab Philippines country head Bryan Matthew Cu.
At present, Grab has a total of 54,000 TNVS drivers with thousands of full-time members who will be tapped to undergo introductory courses under the auspices of the HPG.
As drug syndicates turn to this new method to transport illegal drugs, Grab Philippines vowed to assist the government in eradicating the drug problem through their partnership with the PNP.
“We also need to show the criminal elements that we are serious in tackling this (drug) problem and prevent the senders from using the platform to send contraband,” Cu said.
Earlier, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) warned TNVS drivers not to allow themselves to be used as unwitting conduits for the transport of illegal drugs.
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino issued the advisory following the arrest of Jovet Atillano, alias OJ, 32, who sells illegal drugs online during a buy-bust operation by narcotics agents in a condominium unit in Mandaluyong last September 19.
“Investigation revealed that Atillano has hired the services of TNVS drivers in delivering illegal drugs concealed inside packages right at the doorsteps of his customers. Before they know it, the drivers have become unwitting couriers of illegal drugs. We are urging TNVS drivers and operators to exercise due diligence to ensure that they will not be used to transport any contrabands,” Aquino said in a statement.
HPG director Chief Supt Arnel Escobal said that TNVS driver will play an important role in curbing the proliferation of illegal drugs through the transport service scheme as he welcome any group which would want to help strengthen government’s efforts to eventually stop the transport of all illegal drugs.
“As a law enforcement unit, we welcome all groups as partners in crime solution,” Escobal said.
He said Grab drivers would be vital tools in examining suspected packages unlike law enforcers where it has to secure first a warrant for them to inspect the items inside the cargo.
If illegal items are found inside their vehicles, Escobal said TNVS drivers/partners can refuse to deliver the said package and report the matter to authorities “otherwise he can be held liable as an accomplice.”
The Grab management said they always remind their drivers/partners to always inspect the packages before delivering them after the bombing incident in Quiapo.
Cu was citing the incident last May when an unidentified man employed the service of Grab Express to deliver a package which was later found to contain an explosive which went off at the Quiapo office of Nasser Abinal, a Muslim cleric. The delivery man and the one who received the package were both killed.
Meanwhile, Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said that drug-related arrests are putting a strain on budget allotted for the daily food rations for inmates.
Recto also warned of a possible food shortage in jails come mid-October.
The senator said that the P2.32 billion food allowance budget of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) was based on an inmate population of 106,280, which he said has risen to 142,282.
As the number is projected to exceed the 150,000 mark by the end of September, Recto said inmates will possibly undergo “a forced last quarter diet.”
“We are supposed to run humane jails, not hunger camps,” Recto said.
“Ito ay pagkakasyahin sa tatlong kainan. Ang resulta ay super preso tipid meals,” he added, referring to P60 currently allowed for an inmate’s daily ration.
Two in three BJMP inmates are charged of violating Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 1992. Citing data from the BJMP as of June 30, Recto said 97,321 have been brought in for “drug use, or possession, or trafficking, or sale, or manufacturing.”
The rapid rise is “putting a strain on state resources,” the senator said, citing the P81,732 of tax payer money allocated to feed, house and guard BJMP inmates annually.
“Kulang na sa pagkain, kulang pa ang espasyo,” Recto said.
“The total national cell space of 97,789 square meters is ideal for 20,793 inmates; ngayon parang corned beef na siniksik doon ang 142,000 plus na preso,” he added.
Records show that the BJMP, one of three government agencies holding prisoners, has marked a 600 percent congestion rate.
The Bureau of Corrections has 41,258 sentenced convicts in eight penitentiaries while the Philippine National Police supervises 458 town jails excluding several “precinct-level holding cells, the statement said.
“From January to June, ang nahuli ng pulis dahil sa RA 9165 ay 127,760. Ngunit ang monthly take-in ng BJMP ay 8,000 lang. Ibig sabihin, marami pa ang nasa pipeline,” Recto added.
The statement reported that 83,281 prisoners currently detained for narcotic violations are male, whereas 13,956 are female, including 63 girls below 17 years-old.
Meanwhile, “senior inmates” facing trial for violating the Dangerous Drugs Act have reached 1,110.
The BJMP inmate population has doubled since 2013, Recto said.