BY RUBY SILUBRICO and GLENDA TAYONA
ILOILO City – The pressure is on police chiefs as the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) vowed to sustain the Duterte administration’s “chilling” war against illegal drugs in Western Visayas.
Hours before President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, regional police director, announced having axed 23 police chiefs from their posts.
In his third SONA, the President said the illegal drugs campaign won’t be sidelined but would instead be “as relentless and chilling as on the day it began.”
“I will make sure President Duterte’s program against illegal drugs will be sustained in our region. In fact, in my desire to accomplish more I have revamped some of our police chiefs,” said Bualacao.
This time, however, he said the number of drug-related arrests may be lower.
According to Bulalacao, some drug targets of the police have made good on their vow not to peddle drugs anymore and instead find legal sources of income, while others have fled to other areas.
Data from the PRO-6 and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 6 showed 21,000 drug surrenderers in Western Visayas in 2017.
“Kaya nag-start tayo sa assessment ng performance ng mga chiefs of police natin,” said Bulalacao.
President Duterte said where before the war resulted in the seizure of illegal drugs worth millions of pesos, today they run into billions in peso value.
“I can only shudder at the harm that those drugs could have caused had they reached the streets of every province, city, municipality, barangay and community throughout the country,” he said.
The Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) of the PRO-6 said the antidrug campaign constricted the entry shabu in Western Visayas, resulting to a drop in supply that in turn affected its price.
From between P8,000 to P10,000 per gram last year, shabu now cost P12,000 per gram, said RDEU chief Senior Inspector Kennith Bermejo.
“The neutralization of the Odicta and Prevendido groups contributed to the slowdown of shabu distribution in the region, particularly Iloilo,” said Bermejo.
According to Bulalacao, the drug war would not spare “narco cops”, too.
“We have the names of some police personnel linked to illegal drugs. They will be subjected to surprise drug tests as part of our continuous internal cleansing,” he said.
Non-performing city and provincial police directors would also be booted out, the police director added.
“These drug dealers know fully well that their business is against the law. They know the consequences of their criminal acts, especially when caught in flagrante delicto and they violently resist arrest,” said President Duterte before the joint session of Congress on Monday.
According to Bulalacao, “the officers, men and women of PRO-6 assure the President of our firm support in the attainment of his programs.”
Bulalacao served as spokesperson of the Philippine National Police based in Camp Crame before his Western Visayas assignment began last month./PN
