THE Central Visayas police chief did not deny that he has personnel who are hooked on illegal drugs, as alleged by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Chief Supt. Debold Sinas said the organization will investigate to find out if there are more drug addicts among police officers.
“We are checking those who are under investigation, those who are directly involved because the comment of the President is very alarming for us. We will not justify it. We will investigate it,” he told reporters yesterday.
Random drug tests, he said, will continue.
Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde affirmed yesterday the President’s statement that some police personnel in Cebu are involved in illegal drug transactions.
“Yung mga na-mention noon pa the day the President assumed office, ‘yung mga tinatawag na narco-generals kasi meron doon na na-assign doon as the regional director of Cebu and we have information also that it was during that time or before the Duterte administration, most of the Cebu cops were engaged in extortion in illegal drugs,” he said.
“Ang nakita kasi doon parang nangyari is ‘yung ginawang regular ‘yung pagbigay... So they go from house to house kung sino ang nakita nila na ito ay nagtutulak, instead of them na hulihin or arrested, hihingian na lang ng pera on a weekly basis, parang ganun ang nangyari doon,” he added.
For his part, Sinas said they have a list of police officers who tested positive of drug use and have been charged for the offense.
In a news conference, Sinas said the President’s statement cannot affect the morale of his personnel who are on the right path.
Instead, he will consider it a challenge for him to continue the fight against illegal drugs and weed out the junkie police officers.
Duterte was addressing mayors during the League of Municipalities of the Philippines Visayas Island Cluster Conference in Cebu City last Tuesday night when he tagged Cebu’s policemen and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 agents as drug addicts.
In a press statement, PDEA 7 information officer Leia Albiar said PDEA has been conducting its own internal cleansing.
“PDEA has and will always have zero tolerance for those in the service who will compromise the integrity and credibility of the entire Agency. Internal cleansing has always been one of our priorities as we acknowledge that it is an integral part in the effective performance of our mandate as the lead agency in the campaign against illegal drugs,” she said.
The President, in his speech, also singled out Talisay City when he urged the mayors to fully enforce the law and raise the bar in governance, especially in the fight against illegal drugs.
Supt. Marlu Conag, Talisay City police chief, said all 22 barangays are affected by illegal drugs and half of the villages are seriously affected.
He believes that the supply comes from a city in Mindanao.
In a presentation, he said that 251 drug personalities were arrested in Talisay City from January until August 31 this year.
Operatives seized 657.77 grams of shabu worth P7.7 million.
From Aug. 13 to 17, Regional Mobile Force Battalion and Talisay City police personnel arrested 52 personalities and seized 10.4 grams of shabu worth P122,720.
To show that he is not among those referred to by Duterte, Conag volunteered to undergo drug test yesterday.
“Naka-apat na drug test na kami, walang positive sa amin. Actually ngayon katatapos ko lang mag drug test,” he said.
For Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, not all policemen in Cebu are bad, saying “there are bad eggs everywhere” and not just within the police force.
“There is a mistaken notion that an institution is a person. An institution is not a person, it doesn’t have a personality. There are government officials who are good, there are many who are bad. There are policemen who are good and there are policemen who are bad,” he said. (With SunStar Philippines, RVC)