PNP temporarily stops anti-drug operations to cleanse ranks

January 30, 2017

The Philippine National Police (PNP) temporarily stopped its anti-illegal drug operations to focus on cleaning its ranks of misfits.

PNP Director General Ronald Dela Rosasaid in line with the instruction of the president to focus on internal cleansing, he ordered the  Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) and other police anti-illegal drug units dissolved.

“According to our president, we need drastic actions and this is the drastic action we are taking right now. All of them were dissolved,” said Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa did not say when the anti-illegal drug operations will resume.

“I don't know how long will it take to cleanse the PNP but with each and everyone of us cooperating, will help each other, I am sure even in one month we can do it as long as we will all help each other,” he added.

However, President Rodrigo Duterte stressed that the war on drugs will be "extended until the last day of my term."

Duterte initially targeted six months  to address the drug problem. But later he extended it to one year or until June next year.

In the first six months of the Duterte administration, more than one million drug users and pushers have "surrendered" to authorities.

Duterte earlier said that the war on drugs would continue until the last pusher is out of the street and the last drug lord is killed.

Dela Rosa said does not mean policemen in the anti illegal drug units were bad cops. He  noted this is just part of their effort to clean their ranks of rogue policemen.

“I’m not saying that they were bad. They risk their lives but let us stop for the meantime to concentrate on our internal cleansing,” he said.

“We will not put them on floating (status) because they do not have sins. I leave it up to the unit commanders to dispose their people on where they see the need to assign these anti-drug operatives,” he added.

Dela Rosa said the PNP war on drugs may continue after achieving their mission to clean their organization.

“After that maybe after our cleansing we will return on our war on drugs, the president said we clean (our organization first) and after that let return to war on drugs,” he said.

Dela Rosa said a counter intelligence task force (CITF) will be created to go after the rogue policemen.

“We are still have to choose the senior superintendent that will be the head (of the task force). We must be careful because this unit will police the police,” he said.

He said the task force may initially have 100 members which will be under his office.

Dela Rosa said the CITF which will temporarily occupy the building of the AIDG in Camp Crame.

He said the task force will initially concentrate in Metro Manila and Luzonwhere there are reportedly a lot of scalawag policemen.

“I have given instructions already since last night to our Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, Internal Affair Service, Directorate for Personnel and Record Management to consolidate their efforts in order to come up with a list of all these scalawags in uniform that were reinstated,” said Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa admitted that he does not yet have the number of rouge cops that will be targeted by the task force.

“I am directing all concerned units to coordinate and come up with a list; those are the (policemen) that will be pursued by our counter intelligence task force,” he said. Robina Asido, Celerina Monte/DMS