By: Jennifer P. Rendon
A NEW Philippine National Police (PNP) chief with the same thrust.
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, on Tuesday said that illegal drugs will still be their number one objective.
This was the gist of the first command conference of Police Lieutenant Gen. Archie Gamboa who took over the PNP helm as officer-in-charge.
Pamuspusan said Gamboa told them to re-echo his message to encourage police officers to continue doing their job amid issues and controversies hounding the organization.
After the command conference, Pamuspusan said they were made to attend a meeting in Malacañang where President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his dismay that some PNP members are still involved in illegal drugs.
“So, he gave his order to already go after these personnel in the PNP who are still insisting to be involved in illegal drugs,” Pamuspusan said.
Based on the workshop at the PNP national headquarters after the validation made by the Directorate for Intelligence, seven active PRO-6 personnel are on the “rogues’ list.”
“But we continually update our list based on the deliberation made by the Regional Oversight Committee on Illegal Drugs,” Pamuspusan said.
Every week, the committee meets with the Provincial and City Oversight Committee chairpersons where the validation is also done.
Pamuspusan said they are being aggressive in building up cases against erring police personnel.
This direction is also the same focus that Gamboa espouses.
“We either have to start adjudicating these people or building up cases against them,” he said.
Reassignment to other areas will not suffice anymore.
“Hindi rin pwedeng walisin na lang sa consciousness natin. We have to do something and this is also what the President wants. After so many warnings from the PNP leaders – from the senior officers in Camp Crame – they still insist on being involved in illegal drugs,” he said.
Pamuspusan divulged that Camp Crame will soon be issuing a protocol on how to handle these personnel.
For its part, PRO-6 can recommend a focused approach on how to carry out the order.
When asked when the result of the aggressive campaign will be made, “we were told to do it immediately,” Pamuspusan said.
The region’s top cop said the focus now is against members of the PNP who are involved in illegal drugs and how they can be dealt with immediately.
Pamuspusan said they cannot solve the illegal drugs problem if some officers are still involved in the illegal narcotics trade.
“Madami na tayong warning na binigay sa kanila. In fact, may pakiusap din tayo sa kanila. Pinagbigyan na natin sila and yet, they still insist on being linked to illegal drugs,” he said.
On his level, pending protocol from the PNP national headquarters, Pamuspusan said he will talk to the Regional Oversight Committee to come up with a collegial recommendation on how to handle the problem.
“I can’t do it alone. They are spread all over the region. I need the recommendation of the different chairmen of the Oversight Committee,” he said.
The seven policemen are part of the 34 cops who were tagged in illegal drugs.
Five are assigned in Negros Occidental and one each in PRO-6 headquarters and the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
But while most of these seven policemen are allegedly into illegal drugs, they are not considered “ninja cops” or officers who recycle drugs seized during police operations.
Of the seven cops, four were recommended for adjudication after laying low from the illicit trade.
The PNP has an adjudication board from the Regional Intelligence Division in different regions of the country to ascertain if these officers are still involved or not.
It was gathered that 11 of the 34 cops are still on active service but were already assigned to other regions, 11 already retired from the service, two were dismissed, two are dead, and one was marked AWOL (absent without official leave).
