PNP STRATEGY
PHILIPPINE National Police chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil yesterday stressed anew that stopping the drug chain or flow of prohibited substance inside the country, not killing suspected drug personalities is their top strategy under the Marcos Jr. administration.
“The strategy of the PNP today is to stop the drug chain, the flow of illegal drugs nationwide. It is not by killing that we aim to disrupt and reduce the movement of illegal drugs in our country,” the top cop told the Journal Group.
He also emphasized the need to ensure the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users in maintaining their ‘bloodless war on drugs’ as cited by the Commander-in-Chief in his 3rd State-of-the-Nation-Address last July 22.
“Our drive will continue with more focus on rehabilitating users apart from dismantling the operations of drug syndicates,” Gen. Marbil said.
President Marcos Jr. last July said that “extermination” has never been a part of his administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, stressing that the drive will remain “bloodless.’
This as PNP spokesperson Brigadier Gen. Jean S. Fajardo said Gen. Marbil was taken “out of context” in a Facebook article wherein he was quoted as saying that night-shift workers who are using drugs to stay awake to prolong their work hours are not ‘drug addicts.’
“I think the PNP chief was taken out of context. I was with him during that interview and the topic is the problem about illegal drugs, tied to the statements before the Senate of former President Duterte about extra-judicial killings and questionable illegal drug operations,” she said.
“The PNP chief believes that the drug problem is not only a law enforcement problem but also a health problem. Ang sinasabi niya, some of them are not really drug dependents kaya hindi dapat tinitingnan ang isang drug user na masama kundi victims sila,” she said.
She cited the so many cases of bus drivers and conductors who have tested positive for shabu during surprise testing conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Land Transportation Office in the past. Majority of those who tested positive for substance abuse claimed they were forced to take the drug to make them stay away for their very long trips.
“Ang sabi niya, drug users always deserve a second chance, hindi ‘yung pag na-identify ka lang eh it would result to killing kasi baka naman some of them eh hindi naman drug addict talaga. These are some side of the story that we should understand. We need to look at the demand side, the rehabilitation side,” she explained.
Brig. Gen. Fajardo added that the public must understand that during the previous administration, over a million drug users were reported to have surrendered to authorities but problem arose due to the lack of enough rehabilitation centers.
“However, If anyone was offended by Gen. Marbil’s statement, we sincerely apologize,” she said.
