CPPO exec: Drop in property crimes indication of police gains in drug war

Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO). | (file photo)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu province policemen are showing gains in their efforts against illegal drugs as clearly shown in the decreasing crimes specifically crimes against property in the first quarter of the year.

 Police Lieutenant Colonel Mark Gifter Sucalit, deputy director for operations of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), said this as they promised to continue their operations against illegal drugs with 480 barangays in the province having been declared drug-cleared while 18 others as drug-free.

“To be honest, the fight against illegal drugs remains to be a steeper challenge not only for PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) but also with the PNP (Philippine National Police),” Sucalit said.

“An indication that we are somehow winning is the decreasing crime, specifically on property crimes like yung pagpangawat (stealing), robbery,” he added.

Sucalit, however, could not provide data as of this posting.

He said that the drop in the crime incidents in the province in the first quarter of this year showed that their efforts against illegal drugs were heading to their goals to reduce supply and demand of the illegal trade.

Police, for their part, focused their operations on supply reduction, but they are in full support of the barangay drug clearing program as this targeted the demand reduction, Sucalit said.

This is also the reason that their monitoring and collaboration of localities or barangays named as drug-cleared and drug-free in the province, will continue so that these localities can maintain their statuses.

In the region, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) recorded 1,215 drug-cleared barangays and 5 drug-cleared municipalities. In addition, the region also has 116 drug-free barangays

READ: 48 brgys, 3 LGUs added to PDEA’s list of drug-cleared areas in Central Visayas

Sucalit said that they considered the drug clearing of barangays as an accomplishment in this inter-agency campaign against illegal drug proliferation.

He also said that the public had become more aware of the campaign against illegal drugs, especially in reporting the possible presence of illegal drug activities in their localities.

For their part, Sucalit said that they were also sharing information with police stations on how the drug personalities operations evolved so that they could neutralize these stop these drug personalities and their illegal operations.

READ: Police note increasing number of new players in Cebu City drug trade