PNP chief assures no kill quota for war on drugs

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa clarified Monday that the number of killed drug suspects is not a factor in assessing the success of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

“Hindi ‘yung quota na ganito dapat 'yung mapapatay mo.  Kasi may notion na ganoon eh, may quota daw yung mga units na ganito kadami ang papatayin mo at this point of time para papasa ka sa Project Double Barrel. No. Hindi po [totoo] 'yan,” Dela Rosa said in a press conference.

He said the factors being considered by the PNP oversight committee are the number of surrenderers and arrests made by policemen.

“Ang aming quota na sini-set is number of surrenderers at saka number of arrests, hindi yung number of killed in police operations. That is a very unacceptable quota pagpatay ang pag-uusapan natin,” he said.

Winning

Asked to assess the three-month war on drugs, Dela Rosa said: "In one sentence. We are winning the war on drugs."

The PNP said a total of 1,375 drug suspects have been killed and 22,387 more have been arrested in the 23,474 operations conducted from July 1 to 6 a.m. of October 3.

It also reported that a total of 732,115 drug users and pushers have surrendered during the same period.

The PNP chief said each police regional office has different set of targets depending on their area and situation.

“Every area has its own peculiarities kaya binabagay lang 'yan ng ating oversight committee kung ano dapat ang ma-achieve nila. At a certain point of time dapat ganito na karami yung surrenderers mo, may ganun na target, 'yan ang quota na sinasabi mo,” he said.

The PNP chief earlier said those who will fail to hit the target will face relief.

He, however, said police commanders will not be promoted for meeting their targets.

“They will stay in their positions. They will not be relieved kasi naman expected naman nila 'yan dahil na trabaho nila 'yan. That’s normal na kaya sila tumatanggap ng suweldo para magtrabaho,” he said.

“Siguro commendation but not really promotion, commendation for a job well done mga ganun. Doon sa hindi naka-meet ng quota, they have to go,” he added.

He also explained that promotion is a very tedious process.

“We have a process, very tedious process yang promotion. Hindi ka basta-basta ma-promote kung hindi ka lumusot sa proseso,” he said.

Senate hearings derail assessment

Dela Rosa, meanwhile, said the PNP oversight committee cannot complete yet its evaluation of the regional offices because of the Senate hearings.

“Naantala itong aming validation and evaluation dahil dito sa sunud-sunod na Senate hearing. So hindi pa matapos. Hindi sila makalakad at makapunta sa regions to validate, to evaluate dahil nga sunud-sunod itong Senate hearings,” he said.

He said the Senate hearings use up a great deal of their time.

“Instead of going around the regions itong oversight committee para mag evaluate sa performance ng ating mga regions in relation to our Project Double Barrel. Hindi sila makalakad dahil they have to attend the Senate hearing. Ganun ang  nangyari,” he said.

He said they have no choice but to attend the legislative probe.

“We are attending because we are invited otherwise kung hindi kami haharap, talo tayo sa public opinion, sasabihin nila nagtatago kayo dahil ayaw niyong humarap dahil may itinatago kayo.  So we have to face everyone,” he said.

After the press briefing, Dela Rosa and other police officials proceeded to the Senate to attend as resource persons in the ongoing hearing on drug-related killings.

He said he will most likely announce the result of the evaluation on the second or third week of October.

“The chairman of the oversight committee that is evaluating the performance of my subordinate commanders requested me to postpone the announcement of the evaluation to maybe the third week of October. Siguro sa second or third week ng October na kami mag-announce,” he said.

He said he is satisfied with the performance of his men, but he still wanted them to do more.

“So far, I’m satisfied but segurista ako e, gusto ko talagang masiguro na talagang panalo tayo so gusto kong mag-perform pa sila some more,” he said.

From six months, President Duterte is extending his self-imposed deadline to end the drug problem in the country to one  year.

Duterte promised during the election campaign last May that he will end drugs and criminality in just three months.

The former Davao City mayor won the presidential election by a wide margin. —ALG, GMA News