Police chiefs told: Step up anti-drug war or ship out

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, PRO-7 chief (right), accompanies recently installed Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Raul del Rosario (second from right) during arrival honors at Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Though the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) is among the top performers in the nationwide campaign against illegal drugs, it still has a lot to improve on, its top chief said.

“I’m not satisfied. We can still improve. I want to add more accomplishments,” Chief Supt. Noli Taliño told reporters.

Taliño, the former chief of the Special Actions Force and now PRO-7 chief, said he mandated all city and provincial police directors in Central Visayas to do more in the campaign against illegal drugs.

He said the Oversight Committee on Illegal Drugs is conducting a weekly assessment to determine nonperforming units and police stations.

Taliño said police precinct chiefs who won’t be able to arrest the top drug personalities in their respective areas shall be relieved of their posts and shipped to other regions.

Last July, 75 of the 126 police precinct chiefs in Central Visayas were relieved from their posts for failing to arrest half of the drug personalities in their watch list since February 2016.

“We will see who are not performing well in our campaign against illegal drugs. If they still won’t do anything, they need to go in the coming days,” Taliño said.

He said he has given the city and provincial directors the green light to relieve police precinct chiefs who fail to perform well in their anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Last February, the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame ordered all police chiefs to submit the names of the top 10 drug personalities in their respective areas.

When Taliño assumed his post last July 4, he was surprised that many drug personalities listed in Central Visayas have remained free since several precinct chiefs had not done anything to arrest them.

Chief Supt. Nestor Bergonia, head of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) National Operations Center, said last Thursday the PRO-7 is among the top performing organizations in the campaign against illegal drugs.

Bergonia, however, didn’t give the specific rankings, saying they are still validating the authenticity of the reports submitted to them by the regional police offices.