De Lima orders transfer of high-profile drug cases to DOJ

MANILA, Philippines - Secretary Leila de Lima ordered yesterday the transfer of high-profile drug cases to the Department of Justice (DOJ) from local fiscals.

She has also called on Congress to amend the Revised Penal Code and impose harsher penalties for jail guards found liable for infidelity in the custody of prisoners.

De Lima admitted issuing the order in response to the snatching of Chinese drug lord Jackson Dy and two others from jail guards in Trece Martires, Cavite last week.

“We have to act because of the successive incidents of incidents like that since last year,” she told reporters in an interview.

Upon her order, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is set to start its probe into the incident to determine the possible liabilities of jail guards and other officers.

De Lima met with Chief Superintendent Federico Laciste, deputy director of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations South Luzon, yesterday and discussed “very sensitive information.”

She said the NBI would look into the circumstances of the incident, particularly on the real destination of the three inmates, after receiving reports there was no scheduled court hearing where they were supposed to go, as earlier reported.

Laciste revealed that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency was also informed earlier about alleged plan to rescue Dy, whose Chinese name is Li Lan Yan; his wife Wang Li Na; and another accused, Li Tian Hua, from the Cavite provincial jail. “But why is the PDEA silent on this?” he asked.

Li and his two companions were arrested in 2003 and convicted in 2009. He was the owner of a shabu laboratory in Tanza, Cavite and three shabu warehouses in Quezon City, Pasay City and Parañaque City at the time of his arrest.