Senate detains ‘PDEA Leaks’ whistleblower for lying

THE Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs yesterday ordered the detention of former narcotics agent Jonathan Morales after he was cited in contempt for lying that he did not misrepresent himself when he applied as an agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in 2009.

During yesterday’s fourth hearing on the “PDEA Leaks” controversy, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada grilled Morales about the information that he wrote on his Personal Data Sheet (PDS) when he was accepted at the PDEA.

Estrada said he questioned Morales’ misrepresentation in his PDS to establish that he is not a credible resource person.

Morales has been claiming that he prepared the 2012 pre-operation report and authority to conduct operation to verify the alleged illegal drugs use of former senator and now President Marcos Jr. and actress Maricel Soriano.

He has testified in earlier hearings that a confidential agent, whom he refused to name, allegedly gave him five photos of Marcos and Soriano engaged in pot sessions in a condominium unit in Makati City.

The operation, he said, did not push through as this was supposedly blocked by the late

PDEA deputy director general for operations Carlos Gadapan, purportedly on orders of former Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.

During the hearing, Estrada confronted Morales with a certified true copy of his PDS with the PDEA and asked him to confirm if it was his signature affixed in the last page of the sheets. He asked the former agent to sign in a blank piece of paper for comparison.

Morales, however, made a different signature and told senators that he is no longer using the signature affixed on his old PDS.

He initially also said he cannot recall if it was his handwriting in the pDS, but later on admitted that it was his.

Aside from the signature and handwriting, Estrada likewise grilled Morales on his declaration that that he was never been discharged, dropped from the rolls, or dismissed from service when he was in the PNP.

The senator said Morales was, in fact, dropped from the police rolls prior to his employment with the PDEA.

Estrada also questioned why Morales declared that he was not in any way charged administratively or