INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — “Intrigues” as well as controversies like the alleged recycling of seized illegal drugs seemed to daunt policemen from joining the Philippine National Police’s Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG).
This was revealed Tuesday by PDEG spokesperson Lt. Col. Enrico Rigor, who said that the PNP’s prime unit only has over 200 personnel that are divided into eight special operation units with some of them based at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
PDEG is the primary enforcer of PNP’s campaign against high-value targets in the illegal drug trade.
“La patria talaga. Talagang mas para sa bayan. Considering ‘yung nasa forefront ka, nandyan din ‘yung intriga. Marami ring nag-iingat talaga so may mga kung makakaiwas ka iiwas ka talaga,” said Rigor
(For the homeland. It’s really for the country. Considering that you are at the forefront, intrigues are also there. A lot of them are really being careful so there are those who would really avoid it if they can.)
The more than 200 personnel, Rigor noted, excludes personnel of drug enforcement units from different police stations across the country but still not enough for PDEG to fully achieve its goals.
PDEG was launched in March 2017. It replaced the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group after the brutal murder of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo inside Camp Crame in October 2016.
Brig. Gen. Graciano Mijares, then PDEG director, said that the unit aims to carry out “high impact” operations such as raids and buy-busts against drug group financiers as well as drug manufacturers, distributors, and traffickers, and drug lord protectors.
Mijares also said that PDEG was authorized to have 477 personnel nationwide. But almost three years after its creation, PDEG does not have even half of its target number of police officers.
From operative to target
In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Rigor said the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management has released a memorandum thrice this year urging police officers to join the police unit.
But there were no takers despite these three attempts, he noted.
Asked why, the police official said: “I don’t know. Hindi siguro appealing dito (Maybe it is not appealing here).”
According to him, police officers might be considering the intrigues they may face once they decide to join PDEG especially since controversies hound the Duterte administration’s brutal war on drugs, which government data said has killed 5,552 suspects since 2016.
He also cited the complexity of the mission to collar big fishes in the drug trade, which might be causing jitters to policemen.
“Sa paghahanap mo ng target, hindi naman pwedeng ang magtuturo sa’yo ay mabuting tao, ‘di ba? Natural, ang magtuturo sa’yo [is] involved din [sa drugs]. So, once na na-tap mo ‘yung mga taong involved din, pwedeng ma-misinterpret ng iba so eventually ikaw na ‘yung target,” he explained.
(In the search for your target, it’s quite impossible that you will get information from a lawful person, right? Naturally, the person who could give you leads [is] also involved [in drugs]. So, once you tapped the people who are also involved, it could be misinterpreted by others so eventually you become the target.)
Nevertheless, Rigor called on “dedicated, nationalistic” police officers to join PDEG in the fight against illegal drugs.
“PDEG is looking for dedicated, nationalistic, at wiling mag-sacrifice (and those willing to sacrifice) to join us in the fight for a noble cause. It entails a lot of hardship, a lot of intrigues, no extra consideration, but if you are willing to sacrifice for our country, welcome na welcome kayo dito (you are most welcome here),” he said.
Big hauls, ‘aggressive’ chief
Despite the lack in police pool, PDEG was able to accomplish this year’s largest drug haul when it arrested a Chinese national and seized P2.5 billion worth of crystal meth, locally known as shabu, during a buy-bust operation in Makati City on November 26.
PDEG also confiscated some P36 million worth of shabu from two suspected drug dealers in Pasay City on November 4, and another P455.6 million worth of shabu packed inside Chinese tea bags in Las Piñas City on November 30.
This string of large drug raids took place days after Col. Romeo Caramat Jr. assumed the post of PDEG acting director in October.
Caramat was appointed to the position on October 20 as PNP officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa implemented a major revamp in key positions in the national police force.
Caramat was the former director of PNP’s Counter-Intelligence Task Force, now named Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group. He became popular for the high death toll in the anti-drug campaign when he was chief of the Bulacan police.
On August 15, 2017, for instance, 32 drug suspects were killed while 107 were arrested in 66 anti-drug operations conducted within 24 hours in Bulacan, which earned criticisms from human rights advocates who accused policemen of irregularities in the drug war.
For Rigor, PDEG’s recent large drug hauls might have been due to Caramat’s “aggressiveness” in his job.
“Kapag aggressive ‘yung boss, nagde-demand din na aggressive din ‘yung mga tao (If the boss is aggressive, it demands that his people would be aggressive as well),” he explained.