PNP reviewing chain of custody protocols after court dismissed drug raps vs. rapper Loonie, others

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar said Thursday they are now reviewing protocols to make sure that the rule on chain of custody is being observed during operations.

This was after the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 64 dismissed the drug case against rapper Loonie, Marlon Peroramas in real life, over “unjustified deviation” from the chain of custody rule by the arresting officer.

“We always make an effort to review and reassess our protocols to determine if there were lapses and if there’s a need to recalibrate our guidelines,” Eleazar said in a statement.

He added that these protocols should neither be ignored nor skipped as they determine the success of police operations.

In September 2019, Loonie, his sister, and three other people were arrested in an alleged buy-bust operation in Makati City, where police operatives seized 15 sachets of high-grade marijuana.

On Loonie's statement that he was considering filing counter-charges against the police, Eleazar said the former “is well within his rights to do so. We will respect his decision and ensure that the respondents face the complaint.”

In an order issued on Tuesday, Makati RTC Judge Gina Bibat-Palamos granted the rapper’s camp plea to dismiss the case also based on insufficient evidence.

In her ruling, Palamos also found there was no evidence presented or there was even no attempt to justify the absence of an elected public official or a representative from the Department of Justice during the buy-bust operation.

“The court has ruled.  It is up to the prosecution to appeal the judgment if it sees grounds to appeal the dismissal,” Eleazar said.

“What the policemen in this case should do is treat this as a learning experience and get the lesson from the rebuke by the judge particularly in terms of strictly following the chain of custody rule in evidence, which is vital to the credibility of any police operation particularly in the prosecution of drug cases,” he added.—AOL, GMA News