‘Tokhang’ gets friendlier faces in Quezon operations

“SPO1 Quezon” (left) and “Kapitan Usad.” —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

LUCENA CITY—The government’s dreaded antidrug campaign, “Oplan Tokhang,” has introduced friendlier faces as the war on drugs is brought to local communities in Quezon province.

Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento, Quezon police director, said mascots “SPO1 Quezon” and “Kapitan Usad” would join policemen as they made rounds of villages for the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

The mascots were introduced during the launching of Masa Masid (Mamamayang Ayaw sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga) here on Tuesday. Gov. David Suarez and regional officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency led the program launch.

“But, of course, the mascots will not join dangerous police operations against the few remaining high-value targets,” Armamento said.
He said the mascots would give the police’s drug war a “friendly face.”

A report from the Quezon police showed that from July 1, 2016 to March 6 this year, 24,255 drug users and pushers surrendered to authorities.
According to Armamento, SPO1 Quezon, who wears a police uniform, represents every policeman in the province—devoted, God-fearing, respectful of human rights and ready to risk his life to protect citizens.

Kapitan Usad, dressed in a blue bodysuit with cape, is the symbol of the Quezon police’s Project United Stand Against Dangerous Drugs (Project Usad), a program launched last year to provide multisectoral support for drug suspects who surrendered to the government.

Armamento said Kapitan Usad aimed to remind every surrenderer that the police, local government and other sectors would continue to help them on their way to recovery.

“We’re almost done with the hard and dangerous phase of the campaign. Our focus now is to regularly visit the surrenderers and their families to continuously assist them as they reform,” he said.

The mascots, he said, would also grace village and town fiestas and other festivals in the province.

“The mascots will be our goodwill ambassadors … to erase the [police’s] negative image,” Armamento said.