PNP chief eyes creation of special search bloc to hunt down drug lords

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said Monday he is looking into creating a special search bloc that would hunt down drug lords just like what they did in Colombia.

Dela Rosa, however, refused to provide details as it may preempt their plan.

“Well, hindi ko dapat sabihin yan. Kapag sabihin ko wala na, ineffective na kami sa diskarte. Pero tinanong mo, sige kasama na rin yun,” he said in a press conference.

The search bloc was a special Colombian police force organized in 1992 to hunt down drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. He was killed a year later in a shootout with search bloc members.

Dela Rosa said he got so many ideas on how the Philippines could improve its war on drugs after his one-week visit to Colombia last week.

“That was a very productive trip, very educational, and I have learned a lot of best practices na ginagawa nila doon.  Hopefully, yung mga magagandang napupulot natin doon ay madadala natin dito at will help us para maging effective tayo sa ating war on drugs,” Dela Rosa said.

Asked what other anti-illegal drug programs of Colombia he wants to bring in to the Philippines, Dela Rosa said he wanted to keep his plans secret for the meantime.

“Mamaya malaman ng mga drug lord kung ano approach namin kaya secret muna iyon. Kapag nalaman ng drug lord ineffective na naman tayo kaya maintain muna natin yung secrecy sa ating mga  diskarte,” he said.

He said during his visit, he was brought to different areas of Colombia to see how the programs were implemented.

“Puro kami biyahe. Every day lipad kami ng eroplano, helicopter in all parts of Colombia na kailangan malaman namin yung mga diskarte. Talagang ginamit iyong oras namin,” Dela Rosa said.

He said Colombia is a good example for the Philippines when it comes to addressing drug trafficking even though the former still has a problem with addiction.

“Nag-succeed sila a trafficking, naputol nila yung trafficking to the US to Asia and Europe, ito namang mga cartels, nagiba, naputol yung trafficking. Meron namang sumusulpot na mga organized crimes groups na nagpatuloy sa production, nahirapan sila sa trafficking so instead of trafficking, which is very risky business, naging distribution locally sa Colombia kaya maraming naging adik doon,” he said.

He said the situation in the Philippines, finished products or precursors are being brought in from other countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong.

“Sa kanila kasi sa loob ang production, sa atin sa labas. Kapag naputol natin iyong supply, iyong demand siguradong bababa ‘yan. Kahit na mag-umpog ng ulo yung mga adik na yan, wala nang makukuhang shabu, mapipilitang magbagong buhay ang mga iyan,” he said.

He admitted that the government is not well-equipped to handle the rehabilitation of  the thousands of drug users who surrendered to authorities.

As of 6 a.m. on September 26, a total of 722,743 drug suspects have surrendered to authorities, of which 669,141 were users and 53,602 were pushers. The PNP has visited 1,270,071 houses under Oplan Tokhang.

“Inaamin naman talaga ng gobyerno iyong pagkukulang na yan. Talagang hirap tayo. Doon sa Cabinet level pinag-usapan doon kung paano tayo maka-put up ng rehabilitation centers. In fact, well-meaning friends from the community lalo na sa business sector nagbibigay ng mga amount para magpaggawa ng mga rehabilitation center. Pero ito long-term, mahaba pa ito. You cannot build a building in two to three months, years gagawin yan,” he said.

He asked the critics to just help the government in addressing the problem on lack of rehabilitation facilities as he vowed that the PNP will be relentless in its anti-illegal drug operations.

“Please help us instead of criticizing the government, mag-isip kayo ng magandang paraan, yung mga critics diyan. Tulungan nyo kami. Huwag kayo mag-criticize na sige pa-surrender na hindi ninyo naman pala kaya i-rehabilitate. So ano ang gawin namin? Iiyak na lang kami? Hindi na namin kaya, hinto na lang kami?” he said.

“So I am in a quandary, itong mga Filipino na sige ang criticize sa amin, I am pleading, please help us instead of criticizing us. Gusto natin ang magandang komunidad na safe ang lahat so magtulungan tayo. Inaamin namin na hindi namin kaya, wala kaming rehab facilities. So anong gawin natin? Hinto kami? It's impossible for us to stop. Continue kami. It doesn't stop us. Nobody can stop us,” he added.

As of September 26, the PNP has conducted 20,170 operations which resulted in the deaths of 1,239 drug suspects and arrest of 19,194 others.

A total of 12 police officers have also been killed during police operations while 34 others were wounded.  On the part of Armed Forces of the Philippines, three military officers have been killed while eight were wounded during operations. —KBK, GMA News