It’s ‘trio with conscience’ vs drugs

Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa —EDWIN BACASMAS

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — President Rodrigo Duterte has formed “a trio with a conscience” with new leadership handling the government’s war against illegal drugs.

Director General Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police, said here on Tuesday that his stint at the PNP, the appointment of Isidro Lapeña as chief of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the installation of Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino as head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) would temper the campaign that had been criticized for the violent deaths of suspected drug users and pushers.

“I cannot say that the three of us are powerful but this much I can say — we have conscience. We’re not after making money. We are really thinking of our job, of the public interest. We are a trio with a conscience,” Dela Rosa said at a news conference held after he led the 116th anniversary celebration of the PNP here.

Lapeña graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1973, Aquino in 1985 and Dela Rosa in 1986.

“I know them from head to foot. I worked with them for a very long time. They were my bosses. I know how they work. I expect them to maintain the trust and confidence of the President that we would be all-out in our jobs,” Dela Rosa said.

Importing illegal drugs, chemicals and equipment for producing narcotics would be difficult with Lapeña at the helm of BOC, he said.

Mr. Duterte reassigned the former PDEA chief to BOC after Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon resigned following the controversy involving the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) through customs.

Aquino, who was Central Luzon police director, replaced Lapeña at PDEA.

“With the three of us, I see a brighter future in the war against drugs. The President has admitted he has difficulty in stopping drugs. We form part of the solution to this problem. We hope we don’t form part of the problem,” Dela Rosa said.

Aquino, who is set to retire on Sept. 6, has not prepared any plan yet for PDEA. “I will consult with the men and women of PDEA from top to bottom. I have to know exactly what PDEA is doing,” he said, adding that he wanted to continue the programs started by Lapeña.

He said he had been informed about the need to provide more personnel training, increase the PDEA work force and buy equipment to destroy seized illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa said he did not want the PDEA to be handling the antidrugs campaign alone since that setup had led to operational failures under previous administrations.

He said he wanted the PNP to be involved since it had 195,000 personnel compared with PDEA’s 2,000 employees. “If you take out the 195,000 policemen, what will happen to the drug problem? It is going to gobble us up again. We will be flooded with drugs again,” he said.

He said it would be up to the President to decide which agency would be at the forefront of the war on drugs.

The police counted more than 3,000 “deaths under investigation,” a term for drug suspects who were killed either in gunfights with policemen or summarily executed by vigilantes.

Human rights advocates placed extrajudicial killings at 13,000 since Mr. Duterte became president in July 2016.