Bato: PNP hits 70% target in drug war

PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. NOY MORCOSO III/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday announced that it has reached the 70% target out of the 1.8 million personalities in its drug watchlist.

The statistics from the PNP Directorate for Operations (DO) showed that there are total of 1,326,472 individuals who were involved in illegal drugs from July 1, 2016 to December 22, 2016 that were accounted and recorded from the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Campaign Plan dubbed Project: Double Barrel Alpha.

PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa in a press conference on Tuesday also said that police had accounted for said number of individuals involved in illegal drugs. He also said that the 70% is a “passing mark.”

In a statement by PNP’s Public Information Office (PIO), the 70% were composed of the total of 1,049,302 individuals who have surrendered under Oplan Tokhang; 45,041 who were arrested; 2,295 drug suspects who were killed during police operations; 69,647 drug offenders in jails; 54 under counselling with DSWD; and 147,756 drug personalities arrested or killed in 2010 to June 30, 2016.

Contrary to President Duterte’s claim in his speeches of 3 to 4 million drug addicts in the country, PNP’s 1.8 million number of drug users is only a “baseline number” and based on Dangerous Drugs Board’s (DBB) survey of drug personalities.

READ: Never mind Duterte’s 3M figure, PNP to focus on 1.8M drug users

PNP said that they will focus more on the arrest and account of high value target personalities associated in illegal drugs on their continuous campaign against criminal gangs and personalities supported by the Project Double Barrel Alpha. The agency also said that they are progressing toward the government’s Barangay Drug Clearing strategy. JE