The discovery of nearly half a million pesos’ worth of cash along with shabu and other contraband items at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) could not have come at an opportune time for the Philippine National Police (PNP) after they had been reinstated by President Rodrigo Duterte in the war against illegal drugs.
The amount may have been smaller compared to last year’s haul of more than P1 million along with assorted paraphernalia, but it was significant enough to result in the replacement of Dr. Gil Macato as provincial warden.
But that issue is for another time. The President’s order to reinstate the PNP came amid reports of a resurgence in the illegal drug trade, and while data to support this claim had yet to be released, it was only a matter of time before the police was recruited back into the thick of the illegal drugs war to augment the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Along with their reinstatement came an assurance from PNP Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa that the operations will be “less bloody,” a reference to the brutal kidnapping and killing of a South Korean businessman by police officers right within the PNP’s Camp Crame headquarters.
To be sure, such a heinous crime won’t be the last time that we will see police being involved, hence Bato’s assertion that the anti-drug operations will be “less bloody” as far as they are concerned.
One other concern is whether Oplan Tokhang, their house visits of suspected drug users and dealers, will be resumed in earnest. Most likely they will, but we hope the drug suspects will be accompanied by volunteer legal counsel who will inform them of their rights against self-incrimination since Oplan Tokhang looks and feels more like a shakedown rather than a crackdown.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, whose administration is burdened with the task of cleaning up the provincial jail, was right when he said that assigning soldiers to augment PDEA agents would give the impression of martial law to the communities.
Properly calibrated and guided, the PDEA needs the PNP to help them clean the streets of illegal drugs and stop the drug syndicates that continue to flourish and profit from the drug users.
Right after the PNP was sidelined, the Cebu police claimed that the minions of drug dealers, like Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro, have regrouped and strengthened their ranks and operations.
At this point, the PDEA needs all the help they can get, but they should ensure that they use a more clinical/surgical and calculated overall strategy to wipe out the drug menace and not just allow the campaign to go overboard, resulting in more killings and dead bodies on the streets.