OSMEÑA
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has expressed worries that it would be difficult for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to handle the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign alone without the Philippine National Police (PNP) conducting its own operations.
“They’re so few of them. It’s like one classroom full and they are supposed to handle all of region 7?” Osmeña said of PDEA’s manpower capabilities.
He said that the pronouncement of PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa withdrawing police from the country’s controversial war on drugs creates confusion for the people and local government officials.
“It creates dysfunction. Ako ang mayor (I am the mayor) what do I do now? What’s my role?” Osmeña asked.
Under the Local Government Code of the Philippines, the mayor exercises supervision over the local police.
Dela Rosa suspended on Monday PNP’s controversial war on drugs to focus instead on cleansing the ranks of the PNP by going after rogue cops.
Full support
Now that PDEA has found its hands full following Dela Rosa’s order to stop PNP anti-drug operations, Osmeña assured PDEA in Central Visayas of his support in any way possible.
“PDEA will have to ask us. Because I don’t know. I really don’t know (what and how to help). Whatever they ask us, we will be supporting them,” Osmeña said.
The mayor said that the city will give PDEA-7 vehicles and include its members in the city’s “incentive list” by giving allowances to PDEA personnel similar to those given by City Hall to agencies like the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Bureau of Fire (BFP).
Sought for comment, PDEA 7 director Yogi Filemon Ruiz was touched by Osmeña’s support and said that the agency would need around 8 to 10 service vehicles which he hoped the city could grant.
He also hoped the allowance promised by Osmeña will be released already.
“Last July (2016), Mayor Osmeña promised us an allowance. During our last verification, we learned that it was now in the committee of (Cebu City) Councilor Joy Pesquera, but as of now, it still hasn’t been released),” Ruiz said in Cebuano.
While admitting that PDEA-7 only had a few personnel, Ruiz assured Osmeña and the public that the agency can still handle the whole Central Visayas as they have enough manpower to conduct operations against high-value targets.
When it comes to the municipal or barangay level, however, Ruiz said that PDEA will ask the help of the police.
“There is no stopping us to ask help from PNP. What is prohibited is for the PNP to launch their own operations. We can develop the case and when we are ready to arrest the suspects, the PNP can be called in to help,” Ruiz added.