TO COPS: DO IT OR SHIP OUT

POLICEMEN in Pangasinan, as in other parts of the country, have been given only three months to clear the province of illegal drugs, or the chiefs of police as well as the police provincial director will be relieved.

The six-month deadline was given by President Rodrigo Duterte but in the case of the new PNP chief, Director General Roland de la Rosa, he has given us only three months, said Supt. Jackie Candelario, deputy police provincial director and concurrently spokesman of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office.

Asked if they can meet the three-month deadline given by the Chief PNP. Candelario said: “This is a big challenge to all of us and we are counting on each one to do his part”

Speaking at the KBP forum on Thursday, Candelario said every man in the police service in Pangasinan knows the deadline and will do his best to stop this menace if they want to stay longer in their respective posts.

So far since July 1, the police arrested 75 top drug personalities in 59 anti-drug operations as well as through the service of search warrants in various towns of Pangasinan, while 80 others, including users and runners voluntarily surrendered.

In those operations. 27.925 grams of shabu valued at P181,500 were seized.

He did not include the more than 500 persons who according to Barangay Captain Rico Mejia of Bonuan Gueset in Dagupan City surrendered to him and signed a covenant to now stop their illegal drug activities.

He said many are still set to surrender voluntarily in the next few days but clarified that surrendering and signing promises  do not mean outright removal of their names from the watch list  since the subjects will still be monitored with the help of their barangay captains and  eventually recommended for rehabilitation.

Candelario asked: “Is the name of the drug personality removed from the drug watchl list once he gets out of the rehab center? It is still a big no, he said, since the fellow will still be continuously monitored to find out if he really abandoned illegal drugs.

But noting that most of those being arrested and even those who voluntarily surrendered come from poor families and can not afford the high cost of rehabilitation, Candelario expressed hope that local government units could come in and help their constituents get rehabilitated.

The surrender of the suspect and the promise signed by him, Candelario explained, will make it easier for the police to monitor the activities of the suspect and this time, the barangay captain as well as the local officials can stand as witnesses against the person.

At the same time, Candelario told newsmen that since July 1, three drug personalities were already killed in legitimate police operations that happened in Dagupan City when they resisted arrests, and a fourth drug personality was  reported killed by so-called vigilante group identifying itself as “DDS”.

On internal cleansing, Candelario said that new acting- police provincial director Roland Oliver Lee has ordered random drug testing starting with members of the anti-illegal drugs special operations task group in the provincial, city and municipal levels as well as members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT).

He said the random drug testing will go down the line in all police stations till all the policemen in Pangasinan are covered, warning all those who would be found positive of illegal drugs of administrative case to be filed against him and possibly his outright dismissal from the service.

The new OIC Police director is also planning to seek that mayors and their councilors in 48 towns of Pangasinan will also undergo drug testing to show to the  public they are not taking illegal drugs but Candelario was asked by newsmen to persuade the new Police Provincial OIC to include barangay captains, councilmen and their employees to also take the same test. (Leonardo Micua with report from Nora Susara, Ojt)

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