Dela Rosa now moving in bulletproof car

Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa has tightened his security – including using a bulletproof sport utility vehicle ( SUV) – to derail any plot against him and the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Aside from being surrounded by an entourage of highly trained security personnel as well as a police convoy, Dela Rosa is currently using an SUV lent to him by a concerned friend.

At a recent forum in Makati City, Dela Rosa said he was initially reluctant to accept the offer in line with President Duterte’s directive barring all government officials from using luxury vehicles.

As mayor of Davao, Duterte had used pickup trucks as his mode of transport around the city and wants all national and local government officials to follow this example.

Dela Rosa earlier declared that convicted drug lords operating inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City have put up a multimillion-peso bounty to kill him and the President.

But before using the bul- letproof vehicle, he said, he first consulted the President, who in turn advised him to use it for his own security.

“Are you nuts? What if you get killed. Use it,” Dela Rosa quoted the President as saying.

The PNP is now on the second phase of implementation of Oplan Double Barrel and with the police winning the war on drugs, traffickers and drug lords are slowly being eased out of business.

Dela Rosa said the PNP is bracing for the resurgence of kidnapping and carjacking activities, not only in Metro Manila but also in other urban centers.

Dela Rosa said the lure of easy money has drawn former members of kidnap for ransom groups and carjacking gangs to also engage in illegal drugs.

These criminals are likely to revert to their old criminal activities.

Dela Rosa cited the case of the Dominguez carjacking gang and the Colanggo kidnap and bank robbery syndicate that have mutated to the illegal drug trade.

The leaders of these two criminal groups are currently serving their sentences inside the NBP, where they were later uncovered to be engaging in the illegal drug trade.

Mandatory tests

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, proposed the mandatory drug test for all 1.6 million government workers nationwide.

“I call on everyone in the government to undergo mandatory drug testing. Indeed, there is a need to cleanse ranks,” said Barbers.

He said that barangay officials and the other employees of the local government units should be included in the drug test.

“But how could they (barangay officials) curb illegal drugs in their localities if they themselves are users, pushers or coddlers,” Barbers asked.

Barbers also reiterated his call to file charges against all negligent local government officials for their inaction against the illegal drug problem in their locality that resulted in the proliferation of drugs.

Mandatory drug test should also include educational institutions so as to prevent children or students from falling prey or being victimized by drug pushers and users, according to Barbers.

This was the consensus among members of Barbers’ committee on dangerous drugs where three measures seeking the mandatory drug test in government offices and schools aim to strengthen the administration’s anti- drug campaign.

Among the proposals were that of administration Reps. Scott Davies Lanete of Masbate (House Bill 3611), Peter Unabia of Misamis Oriental (HB 3191) and Michelle Antonio of partylist Agbiag (HB 3640).

–