Tokhang frozen AIDG dissolved; PNP out of drug war

MANILA, Philippines - There will be no more knocking on doors of suspected drug personalities after Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa suspended yesterday “Oplan Tokhang” or the anti-illegal drug operation.

Dela Rosa also dissolved the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) and all other similar police units in the field tasked to implement Tokhang.

He said the decision to dissolve the AIDG was based on a directive of President Duterte stripping the police of its power to enforce the anti-drug law.

Dela Rosa said the PNP is no longer allowed to conduct anti-illegal drug operations and would instead focus on internal cleansing.

In his directive, Duterte handed over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) all operations against illegal drugs.

If necessary, the PDEA will be augmented by the military in the conduct of its operations.?

“Starting today, I am dissolving the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group and all anti-drug units from the national down to the police station level – PAIDSOTF, DAIDSOTF, SAIDOTF. All of these are now dissolved and deactivated. No more anti-drug operation,” Dela Rosa said, referring to the provincial, district and station anti-illegal drug special operations task forces.

He said once the PNP succeeded in cleansing its ranks, the President would instruct them to continue the war on drugs.

The PNP chief created a counterintelligence task force that would go after police officers engaging in criminal activities, including the illegal drug trade.

He said the killing at Camp Crame of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo allegedly by Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, SPO4 Roy Villegas, Supt. Rafael Dumlao and Ramon Yalung and three others prompted the creation of the task force.

“The counterintelligence task force’s sole mission is to run after the scalawags in the PNP. I warn all scalawags, try to fight this time and you’ll be dead,” Dela Rosa said in yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony at Camp Crame.

He said he is dismayed and ashamed every time he hears reports about police officers getting involved in illegal activities.

“How many of you here have criminal minds like that of Sta. Isabel and Dumlao? I know there are still many among you here who think like them,” he asked the officers.

He clarified that not all policemen have criminal minds.

“I’m sorry to those officers who are doing their job well and are furious with what happened to Jee. I don’t mean that all policemen are scalawags,” he added.

Dela Rosa said he and Duterte met over the weekend and he took the opportunity to offer his resignation over the Korean’s slay case.

He said the President turned down his resignation and ordered him to weed out the bad eggs in the police force.

The AIDG was formerly Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Task Force or AIDSOTF.

In 2015, the National Police Commission ordered the PNP to change AIDSOTF to AIDG, a permanent police unit tasked to enforce Republic Act 9165 in support of the PDEA.

Saddened

AIDG chief Senior Supt. Albert Ignatius Ferro was saddened by the deactivation of his unit, saying he did not expect it.

“But we always expect the worst. I would like to share a quote: what is right should be kept right, what is wrong should be set right,” Ferro told journalists as he and 314 other members of the AIDG prepared to pack up their belongings.

“Those who started the AIDG are the most affected and sad. Hindi naman konting tao lang ang winasak nila kundi isang buong institution. Pero tatalima kami, sundin namin lahat instructions ng liderato at Presidente,” he added. (Not only a few people were affected but an entire institution was dismantled… we’ll however follow the President’s instructions).

Ferro expressed belief that under his leadership, the AIDG did its best in addressing the problem against illegal drugs and only a few officers got involved in criminal activities.

Ferro cited AIDG’s accomplishments, including the seizure of 180 kilos of shabu in Cagayan, discovery of shabu laboratories in Subic, Isabela, Central Luzon and Catanduanes, and the arrest of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.

As part of the cleansing process, the PNP will come up with a consolidated list of policemen who managed to return to the service despite previous involvement in criminal activities.

Dela Rosa ordered the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, Directorate for Personnel and Records Management and Internal Affairs Service to gather the names of these officers.

He questioned how these scalawag policemen managed to return to the service.

CBCP welcomes suspension

An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expressed support for Dela Rosa’s order to put on hold the anti-illegal drugs war.

CBCP-Episcopal Commission on the Laity Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said he was pleased to learn that Dela Rosa has ordered the suspension of the campaign against illegal drugs to focus on the internal cleansing of the PNP.

Pabillo said the stop on the crackdown on illegal drugs is synonymous to stopping the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the country.

“It’s a good development. I hope they really push through with it and this should now be a big challenge to us because people now… knowing that they’ve stopped the war on drugs, it means they should stop the EJK,” he added.

The CBCP official believes this would be a good opportunity to shift the attention to another aspect of the campaign – to rehabilitate the drug addicts that have surrendered.