President won’t cover anti-drug cops’ backs anymore

President Duterte is no longer extending any assistance to policemen who run into trouble while conducting anti-drug operations.

The President has reminded the cops not to interfere anymore with the anti-drug efforts and leave the matter to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

“Kayo lahat huwag kayong makialam (Do not interfere, all of you),” Duterte said before an assembly of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

“‘Pag nasabit kayo, hindi ko kayo tutulungan (If you get into trouble, I will not help you),” he told the country’s policemen.

The President recently issued a memorandum authorizing the PDEA to be the lead agency in conducting antidrug operations following criticisms over the alleged abuses in deadly police raids. Duterte had hoped to satisfy the “bleeding hearts” and other critics of the drug war by removing the police force from the picture.

In his remarks last Wednesday, the President said PDEA should be left alone to do its mandate of spearheading the anti-drug operations.

PDEA put to test “This will be the test of our times. Pumapasok na ang triad (The triad is now here) - The Bamboo gang. O, tignan natin (Let’s see) we have the PDEA,” he said.

“Hayaan muna natin ‘yung PDEA (Let the PDEA work) because according to the law, it’s the lead agency (to conduct anti-drug operations),” he said.

Duterte said he himself has distanced from the drug crackdown after some critics have claimed there was no drug problem in the country.

“You have been downgrading the drugs problem. Okay. I ordered the military and the police out of the picture. Lahat. Only PDEA,” he said.

“Now, the question you will ask is, ‘Would this agency, a single one sufficient to meet the challenges of the drug problem? Would there be enough resources for this agency to deal with the problem effectively?’ I don’t know. I don’t know because I myself has distanced,” he added.

PNP intel support Yesterday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said its main anti-illegal drugs unit will not be abolished and, instead, serve as an intelligence arm of the PDEA.

Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesman, said the PNPDrug Enforcement Group (PDEG) will also gather intelligence and other credible information to pin down policemen who are into illegal drugs trade.

“That is the instruction of the Chief PNP (Director General Ronald dela Rosa). PDEG will be getting information and pass it to PDEA and additionally, they will be helping the CITF in our internal cleansing,” said Carlos.

The CITF or Counter-Intelligence Task Force is the anti-scalawag unit of the PNP created after the involvement of some policemen in the kidnap-slay of South Korean executive Jee Ick Joo.

Most of the more than 60 cops it arrested since its creation on March this year are involved in extortion racket on arrested drug suspects.

“The PDEG and CITF are now coordinating on how to comply with the instructions of the Chief PNP,” said Carlos.

Chief Supt. Joseph Adnol took over the helm of the PDEG yesterday, assuming it from Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares who was named as the new director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) regional police.

Aside from PDEG, Carlos said the local anti-illegal drugs unit can also be tapped as intelligence officers against illegal drugs in their respective areas.

“But definitely they cannot do illegal drugs operations. All the information that they would obtain would be forwarded to PDEA,” said Carlos.