GENERAL Debold M. Sinas will be leaving the Philippine National Police (PNP) on May 8 with a strong belief that as the 25th PNP chief, he had done his best to make a great difference when it comes to implementing all the policies they have crafted years before to really make honest-to-goodness reforms in the 209,000-strong organization and further improve its capability to ‘serve and protect.’

“I’ll just have to relax when I am already retired. If you will ask me, I am also not fond of so-called legacies in the PNP. But I would tell you that as soon as I was appointed PNP chief by President Duterte, I only implemented all our policies to make a difference when it comes to administration, operations, financial, logistical and police-community relations,” the member of Philippine Military Academy ‘Hinirang’ Class of 1987 told the Journal Group in an exclusive interview.

Sinas said he merely followed to the hilt the instructions given to him by President Rodrigo Duterte when he took over the PNP last November 10 vice now retired Gen. Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan.

He said that first they did was to focus their sight on their anti-criminality operations. “We stepped up our campaign against illegal drugs, from shabu to marijuana to Ecstasy traffickers and dealers. We also cracked down on wanted persons that as a result, we have hauled to jail wanted persons who have been in hiding for five, ten 10 or 20 years already,” the PNP chief said.

Last year, relentless police operations resulted in the following: arrest of 75,809 drug personalities and the seizure of P14.7 billion worth of illegal drugs, the neutralization of 65 of the country’s Top Most Wanted Persons, the arrest of 61,359 Other Wanted Persons and last but not the least, 390 Motorcycle-Riding Suspects. The number has further increased over the past three months.

Notable accomplishments of the PNP last year include the neutralization of the country’s most wanted criminal, former Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo who was captured by agents of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) under Sinas on July 30, 2020; and Margarito Layno, the no. 1 most wanted person in Caraga region where he is facing charges for robbery with violence against or intimidation, destructive arson, three counts of murder and grave coercion and grave threats.

Cult leader Ecleo, wanted for the killing of his wife and graft and corruption, was the subject of a P2 million reward offered by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) while Layno carried a P1.2 million bounty from the DILG.

“I really believe we have followed to the letter all the instructions given us by President Duterte, from the war on drugs to the campaign against loose firearms, to the war on corruption,” Sinas said.

The PNP’s relentless campaign against loose firearms last year led to the ‘confiscation, recovery and surrender’ of 13,677 small arms and light weapons.

The campaign also led to the arrest of 7,788 persons and the filing of 5,335 criminal charges for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013.

On the campaign against criminal gangs, the PNP last year neutralized 76 organized crime groups with the arrest of 1,984 members of these syndicates and the killing of 91 armed suspects in gunbattles with officers.

Those operations likewise resulted in the confiscation of 109 assorted firearms and the filling of 156 charges for violation of RA 10591 against the arrested suspects.

On the campaign against illegal drugs last year, the PNP conducted 53,426 anti-narcotics operations which resulted in the arrest of 75,809 drug suspects and the killing of 899 armed suspects in gunbattles with undercover officers.

Those operations led to the recovery of P14.7 billion worth of shabu, marijuana, Ecstasy and other dangerous drugs and the filing of 73,569 charges for violation of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 against the arrested suspects in different courts across the country.

Among the most significant accomplishments by the PNP in the war on drugs in 2020 were the following: seizure of 40 kilograms of shbau worth P272 million in a sting in Taguig City last December 21; recovery of 25,7 kilos of shabu in Caloocan City worth P174.7 million last November 20; confiscation of 18 kilograms valued at P122.4 million in Taguig City last October 14; seizure of 374 kilos of shabu worth P2.5 billion in General Trias, Cavite last June 11; recovery of 36 kilograms of shabu worth P244.8 million in Parañaque City last July 6; seizure of 828 kilograms of shau worth P5.1 billion in Marilao, Bulacan last June 4; confiscation of 20 kilos of shabu worth P136 million in Matnog, Sorsogon last January 16; seizure of two kilograms of shabu worth P81.6 million in Parañaque and Pasay City last April 10 and 11; recovery of three kilos of shabu worth P20 million in Cordova, Cebu last April 12; and seizure of 31 kilograms of shabu worth P210 million in Las Piñas City last April 14.

Those anti-narcotics operations were conducted by members of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group under the leadership of Brigadier Gen. Romeo M. Caramat Jr., Brig. Gen. Ronald O. Lee and now Brig. Gen. Remus B. Medina and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) headed by Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr.