Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City policemen noticed a positive indication in their relentless arrests of drug personalities here but admitted that the city’s entry and exit points remain a concern in their fight against the illegal drug trade.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said they have noted an increase in their arrest during their day-long Simultaneous Anti-Criminality Law Enforcement Operations (SACLEO) last Saturday, September 25, 2021.
From their previous SACLEO last September 11, CCPO recorded 39 arrests and 196.92 grams of confiscated ‘shabu’ compared to arrests of at least 45 suspected drug personalities and confiscation of 522.38 grams of ‘shabu’ from their September 25 SACLEO.
With this, Parilla said that they have lesser to no interference in their operations unlike the past few operations wherein drug personalities were given a tip ahead if operatives are coming in their areas.
“Ang indication ani, mas daghan atoang operation, continuous, wala nay balda kay wa nay mga pwede nga mutimbre. Mao nay usa sa rason nganong daghan tag makuha. For example kani, out of 45 suspects, 14 are HVIs, and 31 are street level” Parilla said.
(The indication here is that the number of operations we have will increase, be continuous, with no interference since no one can inform them ahead of time. That is one of the reasons why we arrested a lot. For example, we have 45 suspects arrested, 14 are HVIs, and 31 are street level.)
Parilla said that their arrest for high-value individuals (HVI) also increased from six individuals last September 11, to 14 on September 25. With this, he said that they are now targeting a higher level of drug personalities to possibly cut off items before disposing them on the ground.
However, Parilla admitted that the entry and exit points in the city such as terminals and seaports are their recurring concern since they have insufficient police personnel to check all the incoming cargos.
“Dili man kaayo factor ang restrictions kay atoang restrictions is sa tawo raman. Ang sa cargo, sa atoa na giingon, lisod kaayo nato gwardiyahan ang tanang ports of entry and labi na, usa sa problema, sa port unlike sa ubang nasud nga ang sakyanan tanan macheck. Karon, sa atoa, dili man nato macheck ang tanan.Wala tay bantay sa tanan,” he said.
(The restrictions are not that big factors since these are all applied to people only. For the cargos, it is difficult to guard all the points of entry. One problem are at the ports of entry. Unlike other countries, which have the capacity to check the cargos, here in our area, we cannot check everything. We have no personnel for all.)
However, Parilla said that their interdicting efforts continue together with other agencies to interfere with the proliferation of drugs in the city.
/bmjo
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