POLICE will no longer be able to arrest suspected drug users but only urge them to seek medical help when they go house-to-house under the revamped “Oplan Tokhang” campaign, Metro Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said Sunday.
In an interview on radio dzMM, Albayalde said drug users could surrender to the visiting policemen or turn themselves in at the police station and seek rehabilitation voluntarily, but if they refuse to surrender, there was nothing the police could do.
Police would target drug pushers in buy-bust operations outside of the Tokhang campaign, Albayalde added.
Guidelines for the new “Oplan Tokhang” anti-drug campaign released earlier this month limited such house calls to weekdays during office hours.
Also, police teams of four must first coordinate with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and local governments and validate their information before visiting the house of a suspected drug dependent.
None of the police may enter the homes of suspects without their permission, the PNP guidelines state.
Police are also encouraged to use body cameras.
The stricter guidelines for Oplan Tokhang were released after President Rodrigo Duterte allowed the police to rejoin anti-drug operations.
The PNP had been sidelined in the drug war after a number of high-profile deaths of minors at the hands of police.
Under the new guidelines, those who voluntarily surrender will not be subjected to mug shots and fingerprinting, the guidelines state.
The guidelines also impose sanctions against police personnel for unwarranted violations.
“Any violations of this PNP supplemental operations guidelines shall be dealt with under existing PNP disciplinary mechanisms,” he said.