Drop boxes for names of drug suspects worry CHR

In some Quezon City barangays, residents may anonymously tip in authorities about drug personalities in their neighborhoods by simply dropping their names into a box.

According to Mark Salazar's report on "24 Oras", three suspects in Barangay Valencia have already been arrested through the Masa Masid dropbox program since it was implemented in August by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

An official of Barangay Valencia's Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) said a person whose name is dropped into the box goes through verification before being subjected to further such as interrorgation or arrest.

"Sinurveillance. Noong nag-positive, talagang nagtitinda diyan, pinasok po iyun...Ni-raid. Nahuli iyan po iyon. Ngayon, nakakulong na po iyong mga taong iyon. Iyung mag-asawa," Eugenio Gabor, Barangay Valencia's BADAC chairman said.

"Kung talagang nagda-drugs ka ba or ano, okay naman s'amin na tulungan ka. Ang first ano namin talaga siyan ay i-submit  sila sa PNP (Philipppine National Police). Pasu-surrenderin.  Para mai-account lang po natin. Iyon lang po 'yung target namin," he added.

However, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has expressed concern over the program's verification process, citing reports saying some interrogations were done presumptuously.

"Mayroon kaming reports na nakukuha na pag iniimbita sila, mayroon na silang checklist eh. Ano bang ano mo dito, surrendered ka ba? Surrendered ka. Tapos 'yung checklist, are you a pusher, are you a user, so mayroon nang ready. So people are entitled to actually protect themselves from this kind of intrusion," CHR Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit said.

The CHR also view the drop boxes as an opportunity for neighbors with personal grudges to retaliate.

"So what stops a neighbor with a grudge na isumbong ang isang kaaway nila o kalaban sa neighborhood?" the commissioner added.

Acting DILG Secretary Catalino Cuy asked that the public be responsible in dropping names into the boxes.

"I-eevaluate siyempre iyan, kung ano man iyung laman noon. Kung may isinusumbong siya doon, and then ive-verify  noong  ano, hindi naman iyan  papaniwalaan kaagad. Kung wala silang ginagawang kalokohan, there's nothing to worry about," Cuy said.

"We hope na hindi naman lokohin nila 'yung kung anu-ano man ang nandoon. So those things na makukuha natin na information na iyan ay subject for validation," he added.

Masa Masid, which stands for "Mamamayang Ayaw sa Anomaliya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga," also allows neighbors to send in complaints, not limited to drug crimes, through email, texts, or their hotline. —Margaret Claire Layug/NB, GMA News