Dela Rosa: Drug war ‘getting better’
PNP Chief General Ronald De La Rosa.
EDWIN BACASMAS/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The drug war is improving with fewer persons falling victims to summary executions, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said when asked to assess the PNP’s anti-drug campaign since it resumed last March.
This just shows that the police are succeeding in preventing vigilantes and syndicates from taking advantage of the drug war, Dela Rosa said.
“The way things are going it’s getting better. Kakaunti na lang yung namamatay. Hindi na gano’n karami dahil hirap na sila makasingit sa operation,” he said in an ambush interview at Camp Crame on Thursday.
The PNP, hounded by criticisms over the bloody drug war which has reportedly claimed the lives of nearly 8,000 people since July, has already made adjustments to its anti-drug campaign to “address some loopholes,” he said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson recently urged the police to change their tactics in addressing the drug problem. He said the PNP should start solving the vigilante killings and arresting those behind it.
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Article continues after this advertisement“Whatever his advice is, I am open to all suggestions, recommendations that would help us become effective in our fight against drugs,” Dela Rosa said.
Lacson is Dela Rosa’s former boss in the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) when the former was still the chief of the PNP.
Last March, the PNP launched the “Oplan Double Barrel Reloaded,” a modification of the previous “Oplan Double Barrel Alpha.” The PNP’s participation in the drug war has been halted following the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo inside Camp Crame allegedly by anti-drug cops.
“Inaamin natin yung kay Jee Ick-joo, inaamin natin na nasingitan tayo doon. Nag-react naman tayo and we are doing everything para maiwasan yung mga ganung pangyayari,” he said.
Dela Rosa reiterated that the PNP has enforced measures to cleanse its ranks and weed out scalawags in the police force.
