PNP drive vs crime recalibrated

MANILA, Philippines — Stressing that the war on drugs is far from over, the Philippine National Police will recalibrate its anti-criminality campaign, including the drive against illegal drugs, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said yesterday.

Albayalde directed the PNP oversight committee on illegal drugs to recalibrate “Tokhang,” the police operation that resulted in the deaths of thousands suspected to be involved in the illicit trade, to be more? relentless.

He wants his men to account for 893 high-value targets (HVTs) and remaining 1,656 drug users who are included in the police watch list and who have yet to surrender to authorities.

“We are recalibrating our operational thrusts on the various law enforcement concerns and initiatives to sync well with the national policy. We have heard the statement of the President and we agree that the war on drugs is far from over… Thus, we can expect that our intensified campaign against illegal drugs and criminality would be absolutely relentless and chilling,” he said in a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

The police chief stressed though that while there is a need to intensify the campaign, this would be balanced by the need to observe and follow the law in conducting anti-drug operations.

He defended the anti-illegal drug campaign, saying it is on the right track and that the PNP, during the past two years of implementation, has achieved the desired results as shown by the surrender of 1,274,213 drug users and street pushers.

“Tokhang is about saving lives of drug addicts from the destructive effects of substance abuse and restoring relationships in families and communities,” he said.

The recalibration, he added, might result in the relief of non-performing province, city, town or station police chiefs.

Albayalde also appealed to critics and to government and non-government organizations to help in restoring the lives of the 215,323 addicts who had undergone rehabilitation and ensure they would not suffer a relapse.

He stressed that the war on drugs would only be frightful and chilling to those who will continue to use and peddle illegal drugs, particularly the 893 high-value targets the intelligence community have already identified.

“They are the ‘merchants of death’ who, by the plague they are spreading, are willfully violating the human rights of the majority of Filipinos to live in a society free from the scourge of illegal drugs. ‘Surgical and chilling’ will be the trademark of the reinvigorated anti-illegal drugs and the anti-criminality campaign of the PNP,” Albayalde said.

Meanwhile, the PNP also started going after private armed groups 10 months before the May 2019 elections and has so far arrested 49 suspected members of gun-for-hire groups in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.