Friday, March 19, 2004
CV police ordered: Do better by June
By GARRY A. CABOTAJE
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
DESPITE the seizure of P3.6 billion worth of a shabu ingredient, the Central Visayas police’s performance lagged behind others in the anti-drug campaign, especially in clearing drug-infested barangays, a police general said yesterday.
Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay, deputy PNP chief for administration, frankly told reporters that the local police’s anti-drug effort was “below average” compared with other regions.
Aglipay, Camp Crame’s second highest official, said the PNP hierarchy is giving the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 until June to improve its performance or else some “heads will roll.”
He said the Central Visayas PNP only registered a poor 20 percent of its anti-drugs outputs compared to its performance last year.
“If they have a 100 percent performance last year, they only have 20 percent this year in the campaign,” Aglipay said.
So far, not one of Cebu City’s 80 barangays has been declared drug-free since Camp Crame launched a nationwide no-nonsense drive against illegal drugs.
For his part, Senior Supt. Julio Augusto, PRO 7 deputy chief for administration, expressed confidence that they can comply with the June deadline of Camp Crame to improve its performance.
Statistically, the PRO 7 posted 40 percent in its efforts to arrest drug personalities, but only 20 percent in clearing drug-infested barangays.
Aglipay, who heads the country’s Anti-illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, did not discount the possibility of a shabu laboratory operating here in Cebu following the seizure of pseudoephedrine.
The three-star general was in Cebu to witness the turnover of several bins of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient for methamphetamine hydrochloride locally known as shabu.
Augusto cited the lack of full cooperation from residents, especially in the drug-affected barangays, as one of the factors that affect their anti-drug efforts in Central Visayas.
(March 19, 2004 issue)
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