Carlos: DOJ probe to set new standards in anti-drug ops
PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Dionardo B. Carlos yesterday said they are looking forward to the early conclusion of the ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into homicide cases resulting from police anti-illegal drugs operations since 2016.
“We are confident that the DOJ investigation will succeed in establishing culpability of PNP Units and personnel who may have stepped beyond the limits of their authority out of overzealousness, inadequate training or lack of supervision,” said the top cop as he expressed faith in the impartiality of the DOJ investigation.
“Let the axe fall where it may, the PNP will accept whatever findings of the DOJ probe, to which the PNP assures its complete and unqualified support and cooperation,” he added.
According to the 27th PNP chief, “if the PNP’s cooperation with the DOJ will serve the same purpose required by ICC, then the PNP will gladly extend the same level of cooperation.”
“By all means, we want to sustain the momentum of the anti-illegal drugs campaign that has significantly made a dent in syndicated drug-trafficking activities in the country,” he explained.
The PNP chief also emphasized that they want to restart their drug campaign “with a clean slate by ensuring that the mistakes of the past will remain in the past, and the reinvigorated campaign will bring the anti-illegal drugs campaign to a higher level, totally responsive to the requirements of due process, transparency and public accountability yet with more teeth and greater efficiency.”
Carlos likewise expressed optimism that the strategic gains of the PNP anti-illegal drug campaign will continue to deny transnational drug syndicates any foothold in the country, particularly those engaged in local production of methamphetamine products.
The top PNP official noted that the inflated street-level price of shabu in the country is an indication of the scarcity of supply in the illicit drug market as a result of the successful implementation of the supply reduction strategy by police and other law enforcement agencies, which he said should be complemented by an equally rigid demand reduction effort on a whole-of-nation scale.
