SANTOS
A number of policemen in Central Visayas are being monitored for their alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
But for now, Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, deputy regional director for operations of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said they have no sufficient evidence to pin down these policemen.
Lawas said these erring policemen should, however, better heed the call of Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, the newly installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, to surrender within 48 hours or, if not, they might as well just go AWOL (absence without leave) and go full time in illegal drug trade so that the government could go after them.
Lawas stressed the fight against illegal drugs must start in their own backyard.
“We have to clean our ranks. Those policemen involved in illegal drugs should change themselves before the organization gets rid of them,” he told Cebu Daily News over the phone.
Lawas did not give specifics as to the number and identity of the policemen who are linked to illegal drugs. However, he said they were validating the report and would ask concerned policemen to explain their alleged involvement in illegal drugs.
“We also have to be fair because there are instances when the accusations are just meant to destroy the person,” Lawas explained.
He said it would be better for erring policemen to resign instead of destroying the reputation of the PNP, as many good policemen were affected by insinuations.
Senior Supt. Benjamin Santos Jr., director of the Cebu City Police Office, also believed that policemen linked to drug trade should better resign now instead of getting flushed out by their own colleagues in the police force.
Chief Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, the outgoing PRO-7 director, however, declined to give a statement, saying his stint as regional director has ended last Thursday and that his successor, Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, should be the right person to address the issue.
Comendador earlier revealed there were policemen from Central Visayas who were linked to illegal drugs but stressed there were more good cops who live up to their mission to “serve and protect” the public.