PNP chief Bato dela Rosa: We're winning war on drugs

The Philippine National Police's campaign against illegal drugs has already affected 42 percent of the 1.8 million drug personalities that the authorities set out to reach in the first six months of the Duterte administration.

With 1,390 drug suspects killed, 22,791 arrested and 734,231 surrenderers in the PNP's official record as of 6 a.m. of October 6, PNP chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa believes the government has the upper hand in the war against drugs.

The PNP has also visited 1,701,647 houses, which led to the surrender of 681,264 users and 52,967 pushers, as part of Oplan Tokhang.

The PNP also made a huge dent in the supply of illegal drugs with the series of operations that netted millions of pesos worth of dangerous substances.

One of the biggest hauls of the PNP under the Duterte administration was the P900 million worth of methamphethamine hydrochloride that was seized in a farm near a resort in Barangay Culao, Claveria, Cagayan.

Only on Wednesday night, three foreigner—two Chinese and a Russian—yielded P140 million worth of cocaine and shabu after being intercepted at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“The number of surrenderers that we have processed, the number of arrests we have made, the number of deaths resulting from operations and the meager supply of shabu that is now circulating in the market and the higher, exorbitant price of shabu right now, that means we are winning in the war against drugs,” Dela Rosa told reporters.

Among the prominent personalities recently arrested were actor Mark Anthony Fernandez, former showbiz stars Sabrina M. and Krista Miller, and radio personality Karen Bordador and her boyfriend.

Confessed Central Visayas drug lord Franz Sabalones surrendered to Dela Rosa in early August. He divulged to the PNP information that authorities said could put an end to the illegal drug operations in the region.

Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa has also surrendered to the PNP chief but he was less cooperative and his son Kerwin, alleged drug lord, remains at large.

The older Espinosa has denied involvement in illegal drugs but police seized 11 kilos of suspected shabu and a cache of firearms and explosives at his houses.

He is now detained at Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City after a judge issued a warrant of arrest against him and his son for illegal possession of illegal drugs and firearms.

Despite Kerwin's refusal to surrender, some of his men have already yielded themselves to authorities while others were killed in separate operations.

Charges have been readied against Kerwin's cohorts and those allegedly on his payroll.

Police are still investigating the deaths of suspected drug lord Melvin Odicta and his wife Meriam who were gunned down days after surrendering to Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno.

Dela Rosa earlier vowed that the PNP would focus on big-time drug lords in the next phase of the anti-drug campaign.

The police did not limit themselves to only knock at the doors of ordinary citizens but also visited posh villages, condominiums, and high-end bars.

The PNP chief earlier promised to knock at the houses of and talk with showbiz personalities allegedly involved in drugs.

De la Rosa, however, said hard-headed celebrities who would continue their illegal drug trade should be a subject of buy-bust operations.

Lower crime index

Police credited the removal of many drug addicts in the streets for the lower number this year of index crimes such as robbery, theft, carnapping, and physical injuries.

From 139,038 incidents of index crimes from January to August in 2015, there were only 96,364 such cases during the same period in 2016. This represented a 31-percent decrease.

However, cases of murder and homicide went up by 62.4 percent and 13.3 percent  respectively.

Anti-crime apps launched, internal cleansing

To help improve PNP’s delivery of service to the people, the mobile application iSerbis was launched. It is an integration of all mobile apps including Itaga mo sa Bato, 911, and 8888.  

Of the 170,000 PNP personnel, 150,160 have been tested and 161 were confirmed positive for the presence of dangerous drugs.

Of the number, 105 were confirmed positive since the Duterte administration started its campaign against illegal drugs

They are now facing administrative charges and the conduct of summary hearing procedure is already on the process in order to determine the extent of administrative liability which may lead to their dismissal from service.

While pending investigation, they will be relieved from their respective offices and will be assigned to holding administrative units.  They will await the decision while assigned at the said unit. —NB, GMA News