AFTER being clothed with full power by the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership to dismiss drug-using policemen in their areas of jurisdiction, all 17 Police Regional Office directors now won’t waste precious time to immediately resolve the administrative cases of cops found positive for substance abuse.

Last July 27, Police Regional Office 4-A (PRO-4) director, Brigadier General Eliseo DC Cruz ordered the dismissal from service of a Police Lieutenant Colonel who tested positive for shabu, making the latter the highest police official axed from the PNP for substance abuse so far this year.

Brig. Gen. Cruz reported to PNP chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar that Lt. Col. Marlou D. Besoña was meted the penalty of dismissal from the service effective last Tuesday, July 27 after he was found guilty of grave misconduct for illegal drug use..

According to the official, Lt. Col. Besoña was the only member of the Calabarzon police force who tested positive for shabu use during an initial screening and a subsequent confirmatory test last May 19.

“I have approved the recommendation to dismiss Lt. Col. Besoña from the police force in line with the Intensified Cleanliness Policy of our PNP chief, Gen. Eleazar. This is part of our effort against any member of the police force who are into illegal drugs regardless of their rank and position,” the Calabarzon police director told the Journal Group.

Brig. Gen. Cruz said that immediately after he tested positive for shabu, Besoña was transferred to the PRO4-A Regional Personnel Holding Administrative Unit while undergoing a summary dismissal procedure.

The summary hearing officer found the official guilty of grave misconduct and recommended his dismissal from the force last July 12. Cruz approved the recommendation and signed the Certificate of Finality regarding the dismissal of Besoña who did not file any motion for reconsideration.

Brig. Gen. Cruz warned any member of the Calabarzon police force they will suffer the same fate of Besoña once they are found to be into illegal substance abuse.

“We are very strict on policemen who are using shabu, marijuana and other prohibited drugs. There is no place for them in our organization,” the official said.

Gen. Eleazar is known for his very tough stance against police personnel directly or indirectly involved in illegal drug trafficking including drug use noting that more than 450 policemen have tested positive for illegal drug use since 2016, the year when President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a war on drugs and went all-out in going after rogues in uniform specifically the so-called ‘Ninja Cops.’

The top cop assured the public that their regular drug testing program will continue without letup to ferret out members of the police force who are hooked on illegal substance.

“Anybody who will test positive for drug use does not deserve to stay in the service any minute longer,” Gen. Eleazar said as he vowed to spare no one in their ongoing purging of policemen who are using shabu or marijuana in line with his Intensified Cleanliness Program.

The PNP chief said that police officers and men who will test positive for substance abuse will be immediately stripped of their PNP-issued firearms and badge and subjected into summary dismissal proceedings. Once dismissed from service, the erring policemen’s pay and other retirement benefits and remuneration will be forfeited in favor of the government regardless of their length of service.

They will also be facing criminal charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

“I would like to assure the public that there is really no place for drug-using men in police uniform and these two will find themselves dismissed from the police force just like the others who tested positive for drugs in the past few years. We assure the public that we don’t tolerate any of our personnel who are using drugs even if they are police commissioned officers,” the top cop told the Journal Group.

In 2020, 47 policemen were found positive for shabu and are now undergoing summary dismissal proceedings.

All the above-named policemen tested positive during an initial screening test and later a confirmatory test using the PNP Crime Laboratory’s GCMC machine or Gas Chromatography Spectrometer Equipment

PNP records showed that in 2020, 46 policemen out of the 173,133 PNP personnel subjected to drug testing were found positive for substance abuse.

In 2019, a total of 36 out of the 80,278 policemen tested for drugs were found to be positive for shabu. In 2018, a total of 68 policemen out of the 92,598 PNP personnel subjected to random or mandatory drug testing were found positive for substance abuse.

In 2017, a total of 82 policemen out of the 16,297 personnel tested were found to be positive drug users while in 2016, a total of 206 out of the 164,981 policemen subjected to a drug test were found positive for prohibited substance.

The PNP chief said that those who failed to submit themselves to random drug testing will be facing charges for gross insubordination and will be relieved from their posts.