AGGRESSIVE anti-illegal drug operations by agents of the Philippine National Police (PNP) from January 1 to 14 this year had already resulted in the arrest of 2,092 suspects and the seizure of more than P70 million worth of shabu and other illegal drugs, PNP chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. bared on Monday.

According to the top cop, the drug arrests and confiscation of P70,143,351.96 worth of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine,” as well as marijuana, were made as a result of 1,518 anti-narcotics operations nationwide during the two weeks of January.

He said that all arrested suspects are now facing charges for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The 114-day period also saw four armed drug trafficking suspects being killed in gunbattles with undercover officers out to arrest them, mostly in Southern Mindanao, where the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 headed by Brigadier Gen. Benjamin J. Silo Jr. has mounted an “all-out campaign” against illegal drug trafficking and abuse since last year.

Azurin also said that as of last January 12, a total of 26,883 barangays across the country had been cleared of illegal drugs under the Barangay Drug Clearing Program’s “whole-of-nation approach,” which involves the PNP, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), local government units (LGUs) and all other concerned government sectors.

“This translates to 75.97 percent of the total of 35,385 barangays that were previously tagged as drug-affected. I commend the collective efforts of government agencies, especially those who work to attain this notable achievement,” he said.

The PNP chief said that the huge figures, in reality, don’t show the supposed presence of “low morale” 3rd-level police officers who have “resented” the appeal on them by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos Jr. to file their courtesy resignations before President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. and help rid the organization of officials with drug links.

“Sabi ng iba, me mga low morale daw pero it doesn’t show. We arrested more than 2,000 suspects pa nga and we expect na tuloy-tuloy ang aggressive operations ng mga tao sa ground. That (call for courtesy resignation) should not affect everybody, especially if the information [is] coming from the community, which we can’t ignore,” he said.

“Mas marami ngang nagbibigay ng information ngayon unlike before because of the effect of the courtesy resignation,” Azurin added.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon