House bill seeks free destruction of narcotics

The head of the House of Representatives’ panel on dangerous drugs is seeking a measure that would mandate all law enforcement units to promptly destroy seized narcotics, burning them at no cost in incineration facilities, so they would no longer end up back on the streets.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, who chairs the House committee on dangerous drugs, filed House Bill No. 9668, or the Prompt Dangerous Drugs Destruction Act of 2023, which would mandate all incineration facilities, including crematoriums, to render free services for the destruction of illegal drugs seized in antinarcotics operations.

Pilferage, recycling

According to Barbers the draft measure seeks to resolve the perennial problem of drug pilferage and recycling into the illicit market, noting that the lack of dedicated incineration facilities for the immediate destruction of all seized drugs has been a concern since these substances are “temptations” if held in custody for a long time by law enforcers.

He explained in Filipino, “If we are able to enact this measure, we can prevent pilferage and recycling of illegal drugs because our antidrug agents would no longer have any reason to keep seized illegal drugs in their custody for a long period of time.”

Barbers pointed out that at the heart of his draft measure is the concept of corporate social responsibility on the part of incineration facilities, including crematoriums, of extending their commitment to societal well-being particularly in preventing the pilferage and recycling of seized narcotics.

While it would penalize with suspension or license revocation the incineration facilities that would refuse to destroy seized illegal drugs for free, HB 9668 provides tax incentives particularly that of entitling them to a tax credit of 10 percent but not exceeding P50,000 of their taxable gross income for a period of two years.

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The draft measure would task the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) with designating the facilities that would undertake the drug destruction process, giving preference to facilities nearest to the courts having jurisdiction on the places where the dangerous drugs were seized.

HB 9668 would further task the PDEA to be in charge of recording the actual destruction of the seized drugs. INQ