82% of Metro residents feel safer because of war on drugs–NCRPO

Heavily armed policemen round up persons of interest in the government’s war on illegal drugs in this file photo. INQUIRER FILES

More than 8 out of 10 Metro Manila residents feel safer because of the government’s war on drugs, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said, citing a Pulse Asia survey.

According to a statement posted on its website, the NCRPO said Pulse Asia did a survey from Dec. 6 to 11, 2016, in Metro Manila and asked: “Compared to last year, I feel that it is less dangerous now in our place because of the campaign against illegal drugs.”

Based on the response of “randomly selected respondents from all walks of life,” the NCRPO said its efforts on the war on illegal drugs gained an 82 percent approval rating from the public.

“This result will serve as our driving force to continue our mission on eradicating illegal drugs and other illegal activities in the Metro,” said Director Oscar Albayalde, NCRPO chief.

He added, “We will take this accomplishment as one of our basis and guide to further improve our performance, to address the security demands of the public, and to further pursue our transformation program.”

Albayalde thanked the public and encouraged it to continue their support and cooperation to all the NCRPO undertakings. He also acknowledges the importance of the information being shared by the public leading to arrest and neutralization of illegal drugs personalities.

He pledged that all the information, reports, and complaints of public will be acted upon accordingly and promptly.

“The fulfillment of the service that we render to the public is the acceptance of the public of our services, as we have always emphasized that policing is not just our responsibility but the community as well,” Albayalde said.

“The response they provided in this survey reflects their concerns. We will innovate and do more until we get to 100 percent,” he added.

Fulfilling a campaign promise of eradicating illegal drugs, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte implemented nationwide an antidrug campaign in July last year.

Dubbed “Oplan Tokhang,” it has resulted in the surrender or arrest of over one-million drug pushers and users. The crime rate, except for murder that rose 50 percent, went down 32 percent.

READ: Crime 32% down, but murder is up 50%

The campaign has also been hounded by allegations of extrajudicial killings (ejks) that have caught the attention of the international community.

Critics like Vice President Leni Robredo have claimed that more than 7,000 drug suspects have been summarily killed since the government launched it war on drugs.

However, the police say only about 2,500 drug suspects have been killed, mostly resulting from alleged shootouts when suspects “resist arrest.” The greater majority of the deaths have been classified as “deaths under investigation.” CBB