(A special CDN series on the Philippine National Police and the war on illegal drugs in Central Visayas)
PART 2
Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, the director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), maintained that drug suspects killed by policemen had placed the lives of the operatives in danger.
“You know that those into illegal drugs are already paranoid. If they hear any commotion, they think they are being hunted down. They are willing to shoot it out with the police,” he said.
“I want to see our policemen alive while the criminals are down in an encounter,” Taliño, a former chief of the Special Action Force (SAF), said.
Taliño added that the relentless police operations against illegal drugs and other forms of criminalities have now shown positive results with the reduction of crime figures in Central Visayas.
Almost all forms of crimes, including robbery, theft and rape have dropped by 28 percent.
However, murder cases increased due to the armed encounters between policemen and suspected drug pushers, Taliño said.
“Illegal drugs is the mother of all crimes. To be honest, the problem on illegal drugs is getting worse. That is why we need to do something,” Taliño said.
He said policemen were motivated to fight illegal drugs now because they had the full support of President Rodrigo Duterte and Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
Taliño is optimistic that government would be able to eliminate illegal drugs.
“With the support of all sectors, we can do it,” he said. “Our police chiefs will be evaluated every week. If they don’t perform well, then they will be relieved from their posts,” he said. Policemen, he added, need not worry about lawsuits from people claiming to be victims of police brutality and abuse since PRO-7 had a legal team of retired justices, judges, government prosecutors and private law practitioners who bonded together to defend policemen slapped with charges while in the performance of their official duties.
The PRO-7, however, welcomed any investigation that may be conducted against the police.
“We’re open to any probe, and we will cooperate,” said Taliño, adding that he will not tolerate abuses done by policemen, including extrajudicial killing of suspected criminals.
Killing each other
Based on police reports, members of drug groups were now going after each other because of the government’s war on illegal drugs.
“We have, so far, two to three cases wherein the identified assailants and the victims were members of a drug group. They are killing each other, thinking that the person informed the police about their illegal operations,” Taliño revealed.
Taliño could not say whether apart from criminals killing each other, a vigilante group that goes after criminals had started to operate in Cebu.
“We need to look at the circumstances behind these spate of killings. If we could establish a pattern on how the victims were killed, then we could say that one group killed them all,” he said. Taliño appealed to those who want to take the law into their own hands to let justice take its course.
“Vigilantism is against the law. Why don’t you let policemen do their thing? Just report it to us and we will conduct legitimate operations,” Taliño assured.
From June 30 to December 14 this year, 149 drug suspects in Central Visayas were killed in alleged shootouts with policemen. And at least 219 others were gunned down by so-called vigilantes.
Since the government launched its campaign on illegal drugs, 4,306 drug suspects were arrested in different police operations in the region and at least 8,000 grams of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) valued at P99 million were seized. A total of 4,565 drug cases were filed in court.
Meanwhile, drug pushers and dealers continue to fall each day in the hands of police and operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the region, making people wonder about the persistence of illegal drug traders.
“What?! Have they not gotten the memo?” said a Facebook comment on a CDN story of a drug bust, referring to the arrested dealers.
Six months into the Duterte drug war, is the country really moving towards a drug-free society and are we closer to attaining genuine peace and order?
The answer remains elusive.
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