THE police have “reloaded” and are back fighting President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa said Monday, just over a month after they were withdrawn because of widespread corruption.
Duterte suspended the police crackdown on illegal drugs, which has claimed more than 6,500 lives, after police—whom he described as “rotten to the core”—were accused of kidnapping and murdering a South Korean businessman in a bid to extort millions of pesos from his wife.
But Dela Rosa said Monday reforms had been implemented to ensure there was no repeat of previous problems.
“The war on drugs is on, and this time it is going to be more extensive, aggressive and well-coordinated, with built-in systems that guarantee full accountability and instill internal discipline among all personnel,” Dela Rosa said.
Authorities had originally named the drug war “Double Barrel,” in a reference to a two-pronged strategy of police fighting the drug war on the streets while also focusing on “high value” targets.
“Today we are going to relaunch the war on drugs, we’ve relaunched our project: Double Barrel Reloaded,” Dela Rosa said at a speech at national police headquarters in Manila.
An accompanying police statement announcing the new campaign also named it as “Double Barrel Reloaded.”
Dela Rosa said in the statement there had been a “resurgence” in the drug trade while the police campaign had been suspended.
“It only goes to show that we cannot afford to lower our guard when confronting a vicious enemy. There must be continuity of effort if the desire is to completely eradicate the problem,” he said.
Duterte’s unprecedented deadly war on drugs, a month after they were withdrawn. AFP
Duterte said in late January he planned to “cleanse” the police force, which has long been regarded as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country, before letting it return to the drug war front lines.
Dela Rosa’s comments on Monday and the accompanying press release referred to specific measures to stop corrupt police officers from being involved in the drug war, rather than structural measures to tackle graft throughout the force.
Duterte won presidential elections last year after promising to eradicate drugs by killing tens of thousands of people.
Since then, police have reported killing more than 2,550 people and nearly 4,000 others have died in unexplained circumstances, according to official figures.
Many Filipinos support the drug war.
But critics have warned of extrajudicial killings and other widespread human rights abuses in the drug war, with Amnesty International saying last month police may be guilty of crimes against humanity.
It accused police of fatally shooting defenseless people, paying assassins to murder addicts and stealing from those they killed.
In resuming the war on drugs, Dela Rosa said he approved the recommendation of the director for operations, Police Director Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, to reorganize the defunct PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group as the PNP Drug Enforcement Group as the lead unit in police anti-drug operations.
The PNP DEG will be headed by acting Director, PSSupt. Graciano Mijares while other positions have yet to be filled.
The PNP DEG will have its own intelligence division and Special Weapons and Tactics and K-9 units.
“We cannot turn our back in this fight because the future of succeeding generations depends on how well we fight the war on drugs today” said Dela Rosa.
Dela Rosa invited church leaders to join the PNP’s anti-drug campaign, “Oplan Tokhang” saying their participation would reduce the likelihood of bloodshed.
“The Tokhang operations would be mostly knocking on doors and pleading among suspected drug dependents and not intimidation. This is not shooting or hurting people and so in this manner, and it would be better if the Church would accompany us to ensure that the operations would not be bloody,” Dela Rosa said.
His invitation, however, drew a skeptical response from Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who dismissed it as propaganda and an attempt to use priests.
Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno on Monday warned the PNP to be more cautious in carrying out its anti-drug operations under the revived Oplan Tokhang after a month-long hiatus.
“This time, let us be more stringent in our anti-illegal drug regulations and operations. There should be no hanky-panky,” Sueno said in a statement.
“Project Tokhang had its highs and lows. Let us make sure that ‘Oplan Tokhang Revisited’ will not repeat the same mistakes as its predecessor program and help redeem the tarnished image of the PNP,” he added.
Sueno said that Duterte himself made the directive for the PNP to restart its campaign against illegal drugs after receiving reports that drug lords are back in business.
Under Tokhang Revisited, only the chief of police of the station together with the barangay captain or official and a representative of the local parish will visit suspected drug users in their residences and try to convince them to surrender or undergo drug rehabilitation.