On his first day at his new post, Metro Manila’s highest-ranking police officer had a word of advice for scalawags in the ranks: Start packing.
“Police involved in crime better not stay here anymore,” said Director Camilo Cascolan, who took over as National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief on Monday.
“I won’t even give them a warning,” said Cascolan who asserted that he would demonstrate the same willingness to relieve erring policemen like his predecessor, newly appointed Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde.
In his previous post of PNP Director for Operations, Cascolan cemented his legacy in the police force by writing the operational guidelines for PNP “Project Double Barrel,” which included the controversial “Oplan Tokhang.”
Asked whether he would conduct the antidrug war differently from Albayalde, who oversaw the killings of thousands of alleged drug suspects in Metro Manila during his tenure, Cascolan said he would not.
“We crafted and conceptualized Double Barrel to be used nationwide,” he said, adding: “But at the same time, we added amendments and standard operating procedures to avoid abuses. Abuses in the war on drugs will not happen again.” —With a report from Joanna delos Santos