PNP to mount "surgical and chilling" anti-drug campaign
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday it will pursue its war on drugs and crime "in an absolutely relentless and chilling" manner as it appealed to critics to help Filipinos regain their lives destroyed by illegal substances.
In a press conference, PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde said: "'Surgical and chilling' will be the trademark of the reinvigorated anti-illegal drugs and anti-criminality campaign of the PNP."
"This is to deliver a strong message of the 'certainty of punishment' to high value targets, their patrons and protectors and all those who provide criminal support systems that sustain the illegal drug trade," added Albayalde.
Albayalde said there will be "more built-in safeguards to guarantee that the requirements of human rights and due process of law are observed in every police operation."
He appealed to "all critics to not just criticize but assist in this monumental task of helping fellow Filipinos regain their lives and restore their relationships with their families."
At least 4,000 drug suspects have been in what authorities called shoot-out with police since President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs began two years ago.
With some rogue policemen using the war on drugs as a pretext to continue their activities and some suspects being allegedly executed by police, the PNP overhauled the anti-drug program, named Oplan Tokhang, last year,
Albayalde said he has directed the PNP Oversight Committee of Illegal Drugs, to recalibrate Tokhang "to be more relentless in accounting for the remaining 1,656 drug users in our watch list, as of last week, who have yet to surrender to authorities and to submit themselves for rehabilitation."
"It will also be relentless in monitoring the whereabouts and activities of 1,274,213 drug users and street pushers who already surrendered to make sure they have actually mended their ways. The monitoring will include the 215,323 who had undergone rehabilitation to ensure they have not relapsed back to their destructive habit," he said.
"We are far from completely helping these 1,274,213 drug dependents go back their normal lives.
he added.
Albayalde said police intelligence have identified 893 high value drug targets.DMS
