22 PDEA informants get P12.9-M reward

MANILA, Philippines - Twenty-two informants of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday received P12.9 million in cash reward under its “Private Eye” program.

PDEA director general Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr. said the informants provided them with information, leading to the arrests of several high value drug personalities and the confiscation of huge volume of shabu and cocaine.

The PDEA assets were identified through their aliases: Segul, Silup, Sparta, Clyde, Macmac, Dong, Dazzler, Peter So, Brent, Miami, Jabar, Panzer, Jhong, Balik Loob, Melanie, Alien, Tiger, Repa, Storm, Cold Ice, Goku and Anaconda.

“Our informants were identified only through their codenames to ensure their safety. All information coming from them are being handled with utmost secrecy,” Cacdac said.

The informants received their reward at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City.

According to Cacdac, Operation Private Eye is a reward and incentive scheme of the agency to encourage the citizenry to report suspected illegal drug activities in their communities.

The Private Eye rewards committee composed of members from the academe, non-government organizations, law enforcement, religious and business sectors earlier approved a resolution granting a total of P12.9 million monetary incentive to the 22 informants following a careful deliberation.

Of the 22 informants, Goku and Anaconda received the biggest reward of P2 million each.

Informant Goku provided PDEA with information that led to the arrest of six drug personalities and the seizure of 433.2 kilos of shabu in Sto. Tomas, Subic, Zambales last August.

Informant Anaconda, on the other hand, gave information that resulted in the seizure of 62.7188 kilos of shabu and the arrest of three drug suspects in Tondo, Manila last September.

“The Operation Private Eye is a citizen-based information collection program designed to encourage the citizens to report illegal drug activities in their communities,” Cacdac said.

“We need to establish trust and confidence and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship between PDEA and the public to achieve our goal of having drug-free communities,” he added.