When the issue of “laglag bala” erupted, it enraged both local and foreign travelers, and made them paranoid, so much so that many people wrapped their luggage in plastic to prevent any bullet from being inserted into their bags.
Aside from “laglag bala,” though, a certain Philippine judge warned Filipinos to not put their guards down just yet. Since talks about “laglag bala” seemed to have died down, people might be less cautious of their surroundings this time.
Judge Princess Ongkeko talked about “laglag droga” in her blog post.
“Many people have heard of “Laglag Bala” at the airports, but have you heard about “Laglag Droga”? It’s fairly common in the judicial and law enforcement circles,” Ongkeko said.
“When unscrupulous law enforcement officers bait people with a small amount of planted drugs, then charge them with possession, or even more scary, pushing,” Ongkeko added.
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She reminded how drug peddling used to be punishable by capital punishment, or life imprisonment at present. Ongkeko added that it is a non-bailable offense.
“As a judge in Laguna, we often hear the claim by many an accused person that the drugs found were actually planted on him,” she said.
Ongkeko then narrated how the “laglag droga” scheme affected her friends’ son.
“The heinousness of Laglag Droga became even scarier when we learned that the young son of God-fearing friends was befriended on Facebook, given some money to buy drugs for a good time with a sexy new friend, then subjected to the Laglag Droga by a syndicate. The parents were asked for bribe money, and when they could not or would not cough it up, their son was jailed. The charge was for pushing and thus non-bailable,” she wrote.
Ongkeko reminded parents on how to help steer their kids away from the syndicate.
“Know where your children are and the company they keep. Do not let your own kids be victimized by this syndicate,” she concluded.
In her comments section, Ongkeko addressed one of the commenters in her post, clarifying that the incident she was referring to in her blog post happened during the past administration, adding that the same scheme is still happening now.
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