QuestionsQuestions (PDEA GUIDELINES ON THE IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS OF SECTION 21 OF Republic Act No. 9165 AS AMENDED BY Republic Act No. 10640)
The guidelines are issued to effectively implement Section 21 of Republic Act (RA) No. 9165, as amended by RA No. 10640. They specifically address custody, marking, inventory, photographing, chain of custody, laboratory examination, filing of complaints, and destruction/disposition of drug evidence and related items.
Immediately after seizure and confiscation. The guidelines specify that the marking, physical inventory, and photograph of the seized items shall be conducted where the search warrant is served.
Marking is the placing by the apprehending officer or poseur-buyer of his/her initials and signature on the item/s seized.
Marking in warrantless seizures must be done immediately at the place where the drugs were seized, or at the nearest police station or nearest office of the apprehending officer/team, whichever is practicable. The physical inventory and photograph must be conducted in the same nearest police station/office, whichever is practicable.
The guidelines require separate marking, inventory, and photograph of the items recovered from the search warrant from those seized in the warrantless seizure.
They must be done in the presence of the suspect or his/her representative or counsel, with an elected public official and a representative of the National Prosecution Service (NPS) or the media, who shall sign the copies of the inventory and be given a copy thereof. If they refuse to sign, it must be stated “refused to sign” above their names in the certificate of inventory of the apprehending/seizing officer.
An elected public official is any incumbent public official regardless of where he/she is elected. An NPS representative is any employee of the NPS. A media representative is any media practitioner.
After the items have been marked, they must be sealed in a container or evidence bag and signed by the apprehending/seizing officer for submission to the forensic laboratory.
The seizing officer must estimate its count or gross weight or net weight, as the case may be, and may perform marking, inventory, and photograph at the plantation site if safe and practicable. Representative samples must be taken for laboratory examination and retained as corpus delicti following the chain of custody.
No. The guidelines state that under justifiable grounds, noncompliance with Section 21(1) shall not render seizures and custody void and invalid, provided the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized items are properly preserved.
Any justification/explanation for noncompliance must be clearly stated, along with the steps taken to preserve the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized/confiscated items. Certification/record of coordination for operating units other than PDEA under the IRR must also be presented.
It must indicate the time and place of marking, names of officers who marked/inventoried/photographed/sealed, who took custody and received the evidence from one officer to another, and the time/date of every transfer during safekeeping until submission to laboratory personnel; the chain continues in the laboratory stage as required in the guidelines.
Within twenty-four (24) hours upon confiscation/seizure, to the PDEA Forensic Laboratory for qualitative and quantitative examination (subject to further details in the guidelines).
Where RA 9165 violations require laboratory examination, the positive result of the qualitative examination by the forensic chemist serves to support the criminal charge/s.
A facsimile or electronic transmission of the certification/chemistry report is sufficient for filing criminal charges. The original report must still be forwarded and submitted immediately to the prosecutor’s office.
A motion for immediate destruction (with prayer for ocular inspection within seventy-two (72) hours) must be filed with the RTC where the seizure/confiscation/surrender took place, with prior written conformity of the appropriate prosecutor or authorized DOJ/Prosecutor General representative. The urgent motion is heard and resolved within five (5) days upon receipt.
When the plantation site is infested by insurgents, inaccessible by motor vehicles and transmission communication signal, or weather/calamity/disaster makes it dangerous for safety of officers/team and witnesses—destruction of plant sources may be immediately undertaken even without the order of destruction.
Destruction/burning must be done in the presence of the accused or the person/s from whom items were confiscated and/or seized (or their representative/counsel), plus prescribed witnesses such as a media representative and DOJ/NPS, civil society groups, and elected public official. The absence of the accused/offender at large does not prejudice the case provided due notice of destruction was issued to the accused at his/her known address.