ALTHOUGH he considered his new assignment as a huge challenge, newly installed Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Senior Supt. Joel Doria said he will give his best to maintain peace and order in the city.
In Mandaue City, Senior Supt. Roberto Alanas, the new city chief of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), wants to fight criminality in the city with maximum effort and no compromise.
There will also be zero tolerance for policemen who use illegal drugs, and those engaged in the illegal drug trade and other criminal activities.
Alanas told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that the campaign against illegal drugs is his priority, given that most of the crime incidents in the country stem from illegal drug use.
Despite the move of Mayor Tomas Osmeña to stop his anti-drugs efforts, Doria went to City Hall yesterday and paid a courtesy call on members of the City Council during its regular session.
With him were officers of the 11 police stations and special units of CCPO.
In an interview, Doria said it will be a challenge for him to head the police force of the city following the accomplishments of the office under then CCPO director Benjamin Santos.
Challenge
“Malaking challenge po talaga considering na marami silang na-prove dito. We will do our best, pipilitin namin na mapantayan yung mga nagawa nila dito and maituloy kung anong mga proyekto na naumpisahan na nila (We will do our best to equal the performance of the previous leadership),” Doria said.
Doria said that among the programs he will continue is following the directive of Osmeña to respond to all calls for help received by CCPO.
Aside from his stopping his campaign against drugs, Osmeña has also stopped the City Government’s allowances to police officers in the city. The City will also stop the giving of additional 40 patrol vehicles to the police force.
The mayor also announced that he will stop giving P50,000 cash incentives to police operatives who can kill a criminal.
When sought to comment on the matter, Doria said an allowance is just an incentive to them, and they should not rely on it.
He said that even if the support of the local government is important when it comes to resources, Doria said it is the prerogative of the mayor whether to help the city’s police or not.
Doria said they will just make do with their existing resources in doing their job.
He said rotation of officers and personnel within the PNP is normal, that is why he is hopeful Osmeña will reconsider his decision.
Action Force
Doria, who originally belonged to the Special Action Force of PNP, used to be the police chief of Pasay City and was reassigned as in-charge of the personnel division of the National Capital Region Police Office for several days before he got another directive to head the CCPO.
Doria also expressed his intention to pay Osmeña a visit.
“I was informed that the mayor is still busy, but it’s okay because CCPO will be there waiting. Any moment that the mayor will call us, we will come just like the invitation of the City Council,” he said.
“There will be no compromise and we will exert maximum effort in our anti-criminality campaign. We will have zero tolerance when it comes to PNP personnel linked to drugs. I don’t want any PNP member being involved in drugs, so we will begin our internal cleansing,” said Alanas, who assumed his new post last Monday.
It is the first time for Alanas to be assigned in the Visayas. Before his transfer to Mandaue, he was the National Capitol Region Police Office’s regional staff officer.
He said he will subject all 479 personnel to a random mandatory drug test.
Operation Tokhang will continue under Alanas’ watch, but alongside it, he will also work with City Hall on the rehabilitation of those who surrender to make sure they don’t return to their old ways.
From July 1 to 19, the MCPO recorded a total of 1,128 drug personalities who surrendered to the police through Operation Tokhang.
Of the number, 1,020 are users and 108 are pushers.
The MCPO has also conducted 114 anti-drug operations from Jan. 1 to June 30 this year, where 141 drug suspects were arrested. The operations yielded 234 grams of shabu worth about P2.77 million.
Alanas said that Mandaue has been classified as moderately affected by drugs, which means that there are drug pusher and users but there is no existing drug laboratory.
But because of the discovery of a large-scale shabu lab in Barangay Umapad in 2004, the police chief said they are continuously monitoring warehouses in the city to make sure no they are not used for illegal activities.
Alanas said he also wants to improve the welfare of the MCPO personnel. He will also coordinate with the local government to improve the capability of the police.
Among other things, the police stations, vehicles and fire power will have to be upgraded, he said.