Vinluan orders ‘no pockets policy’ and ‘Oplan Kapkap’ for Cebu City cops involved in anti-drug operations

Police Colonel Gemma Vinluan, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) chief

CEBU CITY, Philippines —  If you are a policeman in Cebu City and involved in anti-drug operations, wearing any article of clothing with pockets on it will be prohibited.

Cebu City cops who take part in drug busts must also submit themselves to frisking prior to and after each operation.

These two rules have been implemented since Saturday, September 28, on the order of Police Colonel Gemma Cruz Vinluan, the chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), to avoid speculations about police officers recycling illegal drugs from buy-bust operations.

These rules are covered by the “no pocket policy” and “Oplan Kapkap”  that will be written down in a formal orders, Vinluan affirmed to CDN Digital on Sunday.

Kapkap means “to frisk” in Bisaya.

After the issue of “ninja cops,” or policemen who recycle seized illegal drugs during operations and who plow the same seized drugs back to the illegal drugs market, Vinluan was determined to prove that the CCPO men are not “ninja cops.”

According to Vinluan, “Oplan Kapkap” has already been carried out since Thursday, September 26, a day after the issue about the “ninja cops” erupted in public following the revelation of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino that there at least 53 policemen in the list of “ninja cops.”

Vinluan issued the  “no pocket” directive  last Friday, September 27, but some adjustment will still have to be made as to how it will be implemented since a memorandum on this directive has still to be drafted.

While the uniform of the policemen include pockets, enforcing the “no pocket policy” during anti-drug operations will not be difficult since cops involve in such operations wear civilian clothings to avoid detection by the suspects.

This means that anti-drug operatives can wear comfortable clothes for as long as these have no pockets, explained Vinluan.

Vinluan also told CDN Digital that she has instructed the intelligence department of CCPO to monitor the compliance of all the operating units of the 11 police stations under CCPO.

The frisking, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Frankie Jingle Lugo, chief of the Investigation Detection and Management Branch of CCPO, will be done by the station commanders who will be present during operations.

Lugo said they have arranged a schedule where in every drug buy-bust operation, a station commander or personnel from the IDMB will be present to carry out frisking as they will be the only ones authorized to do the task.

“Mag kakapkapan na tayo, to see to it na ma assure natin na wala talagang items at maiwasan ang pag pa-planting ng edidensya, kasi baka mamaya may dala-dala sila na ilalagay nila sa mga suspects,” said Lugo.

(Each personnel should be frisked so that we could be assured that they were not bringing drug items and to avoid planting of evidence against the suspects.)

With the new policy, Lugo said they hoped that this would show to the public that the CCPO personnel are clean and are doing their jobs properly./elb